HE    LITTLE    RED 
SHOP 


l-'rontU.        run 


IKV 


THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP 


BY 

MARGARET   SIDNEY 

Author  of 

Five  Little  Peppers  and  How  they  Grew 
The  Pettibone  Name 
Hester 

What  the  Seven  Did 
St.  George  and  the  Dragon 
Dilly  and  the  Captain 


ILLUSTRATED 


BOSTON 
•    LOTHROP   COMPANY 

WASHINGTON   STREET  OPPOSITE   BROMFIRLD 


COPYRIGHT,  1889, 

BY 
D.  LOTHROP  COMPANY. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 

PASI. 

I. 

7 

II. 

HOW  SHE  BECAME   "COMPANY" 

15 

III. 

IS  IT  RIGHT  ?      . 

22 

IV. 

A  NEW  FORCE    .... 

29 

V. 

A  NEW  TURN  OF  AFFAIRS 

88 

.  VI. 

A  LIFT  INTO   SUCCESS 

47 

VII. 

FAIRLY  UNDER  WAY 

66 

VIII. 

AN   ENCOURAGING  ASPECT 

68 

IX. 

TIME  FOR  ACTION 

70 

X. 

A  GOOD  DAY       .... 

79 

XI. 

NEW   DEVELOPMENTS 

87 

XII. 

A  SUCCESS             .... 

98 

XIII. 

A  FAMILY  PARTY 

108 

XIV. 

A   NEW   PLAN       .... 

119 

XV. 

"  OUR  ENTERPRISE" 

133 

XVI. 

LOSING   SELF-CONTROL 

145 

XVII. 

CALLED  AS  HELPERS 

150 

XVIII. 

164 

XIX. 

A   MIXTURE          .... 

172 

XX. 

AN  ALARM              .... 

182 

XXI. 

LIGHT-HEARTED  AGAIN 

189 

XXII. 

STANCH  FRIENDS  INDEED 

197 

XXIII. 

THE  SECRET      .... 

204 

XXIV. 

THE  SECRET  is  OUT  . 

210 

THE   LITTLE   RED   SHOP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PLANNING. 

rriHE  old  house  on  Cherryfield  high  road, 
"•"  back  of  the  row  of  stiff  poplars,  with  its 
queer  little  gnarled  apple-trees  at  the  back, 
looked  for  all  the  world  just  as  it  did  one  hun- 
dred years  ago.  It  had  no  more  paint  on  it 
now  than  when  the  children's  grandfather  took 
home  his  young  bride  who  thought  it  the  most 
beautiful  place  in  all  the  world  to  begin  house- 
keeping in.  Then  it  was  a  dingy  yellow,  with 
faded  green  blinds ;  and  now  the  same  forlorn 
attempt  at  coloring  greeted  all  passers-by.  To 
be  sure  it  had  been  painted  many  times  in  the 
interim,  but  always  the  same  hue  was  chosen, 
so  that  to  the  oldest  inhabitant  it  was  the  best 
known  landmark  for  miles  around. 

The  "Brimmer  Place"  was  known  too,  for 
something  else  than  its  antiquity.    It  was  the 
7 


8  THE  LITTLE  RED  SUOP. 

cheeriest,  horae-iest  old  house  that  ever  stood  on 
any  road,  overflowing  with  good-will  to  every- 
body, especially  to  sick  people  and  to  little  chil- 
dren. If  anybody  were  in  trouble  and  could 
reach  her,  Mrs.  Brimmer  always  found  just  the 
right  word  of  cheer  to  speak,  while  she  tried  to 
help  in  many  other  ways  —  and  what  she  didn't 
do,  why,  there  were  Jack,  and  Cornelius,  and 
Rosalie,  to  say  nothing  of  Primrose,  the  baby  — 
four  little  comforters  who  made  everybody  just 
happy  to  look  at  them.  And  yet  every  one  who 
lived  in  the  big,  hundred-year-old  house  was  poor. 

"  It's  most  dreadful  to  be  poor,"  said  Rosalie 
one  morning,  in  a  burst  of  confidence  to  the 
boys,  out  in  the  woodshed.  Cornelius  stopped 
hacking  at  an  old  log  to  flash  her  a  convincing 
"  no  "  out  of  his  black  eyes. 

"And  it's  so  very  unagreeable,"  continued 
Rosalie,  smoothing  down  her  apron  while  she 
seated  herself  on  one  end  of  the  bench. 

"  .Disagreeable,  you  mean,"  corrected  Jack, 
picking  up  sticks  over  in  the  corner.  "  There, 
Corny,  you  let  that  old  fellow  alone;  I'll  tackle 
him  soon.  He's  too  tough  for  you." 

Corny,  resenting  the  implication,  let  the  hatchet 
fly  on  the  back  of  the  old  log  to  show  how  strong 


PLANNING.  9 

he  was,  in  such  a  masterful  style  that  the  chips 
flew  in  every  direction,  and  Rosalie  shook  them 
from  her  apron,  before  she  said,  "  No ;  I'm  sure 
it  is  unagreeable  —  I  saw  it  in  the  dictionary." 

"  Well,  then,  you  didn't  see  right,"  said  Jack. 
"  It's  d-i-s ;  awful  big  letters  too.  Means  hate- 
ful, and  not  nice." 

"  Well,  it's  not  nice  to  be  poor,"  said  Rosalie 
wisely  waiving  all  further  discussion  as  to  the 
word ;  "  that  you  must  say  anyway,  Jack." 

But  Jack's  lips  were  tight.  Presently  he 
straightened  himself  up,  and  gave  his  head  a 
shake.  "Well,  what  shall  we  do  about  it?" 

"Do?"  said  Rosalie,  in  surprise,  "why,  I 
don't  know  what  you  mean,  Jack  ?  " 

"  When  things  are  not  nice,  there  is  no  use  in 
talking  about  them  if  you  don't  do  something  to 
make  them  better,"  said  Jack  philosophically. 
"  Now  I  want  to  know  what  we  are  going  to  do 
to  make  ourselves  rich." 

"  To  make  ourselves  rich  —  O  Jack  !  "  cried 
Rosalie  and  Cornelius  together. 

"  If  we  can  earn  some  money,  I  suppose  we 
shall  be  rich  sometime,"  observed  Jack  ;  "  every- 
body was  poor  once,  but  they  worked  and  got 
money.  Now,  how  can  we  ?  " 


10  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

The  children  were  so  possessed  with  the  idea 
of  their  ever  being  rich,  that  no  words  came  to 
their  aid ;  and  Jack  went  on  without  interrup- 
tion. 

"I've  been  thinking  over  something  that,  if 
we  can  do  it,  will  be  perfectly  splendid,  and  help 
mammy  take  care  of  baby.  Poor,  dear  Mam- 
sier 

He  turned  away  for  a  moment,  and  then 
showed  his  face  again,  the  same  old  Jack  with 
the  laughing  eyes,  and  pleasant,  honest  mouth. 

"Tell  on,"  said  Cornelius,  who  had  dropped 
his  hatchet,  and  drawn  near.  "Be  quick  and 
tell  us,"  he  added  breathlessly. 

"Well,  there  is  the  tool-house,"  said  Jack. 
"Funny  old  hole,  but  just  the  thing  for  us. 
Now  what's  to  hinder  our  setting  up  a  shop  in 
it,  and  selling  things?" 

"Real  true-as-you-live  things,"  cried  Rosalie, 
"  with  counters,  string,  and  brown  paper  bags?" 

"And  five  cent  pieces,  and  cents  and  quar- 
ters?" screamed  Cornelius  on  his  highest  key. 
"  Whickets !  why  didn't  we  think  of  it  before  ? 
But  where'd  we  get  the  things  to  sell,  with? 
Phoh !  your  news  isn't  anything,  after  all ;  only 
just  an  old  dried-up  joke."  He  was  so  disgusted, 


PLANNING.  11 

that  he  went  back,  picked  up  his  hatchet,  and  fell 
to  slowly  hacking  again.  Jack  flung  himself  up 
to  Rosalie's  side  on  the  bench. 

"  Now  sec  here,  both  of  you.  The  thing  can 
be  done,  if  we  will  all  club  together,  and  work 
hard;  It's  not  to  be  a  success  in  a  day,  mind 
you,  but  we've  got  to  pull  hard,  and  at  it  all  the 
time.  Are  you  willing  to  do  it  for  Mamsie's 
sake?" 

"Can't  we  have  any  time  for  play?"  asked 
Rosalie  with  a  long  face. 

"  Perhaps ;  but  there  won't  be  much,"  said 
Jack,  "  if  we  make  a  good  thing  of  this." 

"  Well,  I  s'pose  you  and  I  are  the  men  of  this 
family,"  said  Cornelius,  over  his  log,  "and  so  if 
you'll  just  say  how  the  money's  coming  to  begin 
with,  why,  I'll  give  you  my  word,  I'll  keep  at  it." 

"We  want  Rosalie,"  said  Jack,  kindly;  "we 
can't  do  anything  without  her." 

"  Why,  she's  nothing  but  a  girl,"  said  Corne- 
lius, still  pummeling;  "it  takes  men  to  keep 
store  and  make  money." 

"But  there  are  ever  so  many  things  that  a 
girl  can  do  to  help  us,"  said  Jack,  "  so  we  must 
take  her  into  partnership." 

"  O  Jack !  how  very  line  and  exquisite,"  cried 


12  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

Rosalie,  grasping  his  arm  with  excited  little  fin- 
gers. "  I'll  wait  on  customers,  and  make  change 
all  alone,  and  help  fix  up  things  and  look  nice." 

"  She  uses  such  terribly  big  words,"  said  Cor- 
nelius, in  disfavor  at  the  scheme,  "  and  puts  on 
airs,  just  like  all  the  other  girls.  Jack,  we  can't 
let  her  in ;  it's  no  use  to  try." 

"Now,  Corny,"  cried  Rosalie,  slipping  from 
her  bench  and  standing  quite  tall.  "  I'm  very 
big  —  nearly  ten ;  and  I  know  a  great  many 
things,  and  Jack  says  I  may  —  so  there." 

"  Yes,  she  really  ought,"  said  Jack,  with  a  nod 
over  at  the  smaller  boy,  "because  you  see  it's  a 
family  concern.  We  must  make  it  Brimmer 
Brothers  and  Company." 

"  Am  I  Company  ?  "  asked  Rosalie,  in  subdued 
excitement. 

"Yes,"  said  Jack.  "  Well,  now  I'll  tell  you 
how  we  can  make  the  money  to  buy  the  things 
that  we  are  to  sell.  To  begin  with,  Rosalie  ?  " 

"I?"  cried  the  Company,  with  widened  eyes. 

"Yes,"  Jack  nodded  at  her  very  decidedly. 
"  You  can  take  care  of  Mrs.  Prouty's  baby." 

"O  Jack!"  It  was  a  tone  of  horror  that  came 
from  the  girl  of  the  family,  "  you  don't  ever 
mean  that?" 


PLANNING.  13 

"  If  we  are  really  going  to  earn  money  to  help 
Mamsie  with,  we  must  expect  to  do  some  disa- 
greeable work,"  said  Jack  gravely. 

Rosalie  hid  her  ashamed  little  face  a  moment, 
then  said,  "Very  well,  I'll  do  it.  But  how  do 
you  know  she  wants  me?" 

"  I  heard  her  tell  the  cook  when  I  carried  the 
lettuce  there  this  morning  that  she'd  give  fifty 
cents  to  any  girl  who  would  take  care  of  the 
baby  a  week  —  just  come  in  every  day.  Her 
cousin  is  going  there  to-morrow  to  visit,  and  she 
wants  her  time  to  herself.  Just  think,  Rosalie, 
fifty  bright  new  cents  ! " 

The  Company  fairly  clapped  her  hands.  "  Per- 
haps she'll  let  me  bring  the  baby  over  home, 
then  I  sha'n't  be  away  from  Primrose." 

"  She'd  be  only  too  glad  to  get  him  out  of 
the  way,  I'll  be  bound,"  said  Jack ;  "  I  sh'd  be, 
if  I  owned  that  baby." 

"  And  Primrose  is  so  sweet  that  any  other 
baby  would  smile  and  be  good,  even  if  it  was  a 
great  fat,  big,  crying  red-faced  one  like  Mrs. 
Prouty's,"  said  Rosalie,  seeing  some  alleviation 
to  her  task  of  earning  fifty  cents.  "  Now  what 
is  Corny  going  to  do  ? "  she  demanded,  trying 
not  to  hope  that  his  work  was  disagreeable  also. 


14  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"  Corny  and  I  have  to  work  together,"  said 
Jack,  with  a  little  grimace  he  couldn't  help. 
"  It's  to  clean  up  Widow  Brown's  pig-pen." 

"  I  sha'n't  clean  up  that  old  woman's  pig-pen, 
nor  anybody's  pig-pen,"  shouted  Corny,  with  a 
vicious  hack  at  the  log ;  "  no,  sir!" 

"Very  well,  sir,"  cried  Jack  back  again, 
« then  I'll  do  it  alone." 

He  didn't  say,  "  I  would  if  I  were  you,"  or 
anything  of  the  persuasive  sort,  knowing  that  by 
no  such  ways  could  he  manage  Cornelius.  He 
simply  let  him  alone,  as  he  always  did,  to  begin 
his  own  duty.  The  consequence  was,  the  chubby 
youug  wood-chopper  presently  turned  around, 
and  said  complacently,  "  When  I  get  this  log 
chipped  up  for  Mamsie,  I'll  join  you." 

"  If  you  don't  come  till  that  log  is  done,  I'll 
have  Widow  Brown's  pig-pen  in  apple  pie 
order,"  cried  Jack,  in  high  good-humor 


CHAPTER   H. 


HOW    SHE    BECAME    "COMPANY. 


,  Baby,  be  good,  do,"  begged  Rosalie 
in  a  tone  of  despair,  essaying  to  smooth 
the  small  tow  head  with  a  kind,  motherly  hand. 

"I  'ON'T!"  declared  Baby  Prouty,  lifting  both 
feet  to  bring  the  heels  smartly  to  the  floor,  and 
turning  a  vicious  little  face  to  her  nurse. 

«  O  dear  !  "  sighed  Rosalie,  a  tired  little  flush 
mounting  to  the  brown  waves  of  hair,  "  you  are 
the  —  oh  !  what  am  I  saying.  You  are  a  baby 
and  ought  to  be  cuddled  and  made  to  be  good," 
and  she  tried  to  gather  her  up  in  her  warm  little 
arms. 

"  I  'on't  —  I  'on't  "  —  screamed  Baby  Prouty, 
kicking  and  struggling  to  be  free.  In  the  fuss, 
Rosalie  was  bitten  quite  sharply  on  the  thumb, 
when  what  little  patience  she  possessed,  took  to 
itself  wings,  leaving  an  ugly  little  temper  to  fly 
into  its  place. 

15 


16  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"  If  anybody  could  be  good  to  you,  it  would 
be  an  angel  with  ever  and  ever  so  many  wings," 
she  cried,  nursing  her  aching  thumb  hi  her 
mouth,  and  glaring  over  it  at  the  baby,  who, 
now  that  she  had  succeeded  in  stirring  up  an 
unpleasant  state  of  things,  crowed  sweetly  and 
showed  all  her  teeth  in  an  expansive  smile. 
"You're  a  bad,  bad  child,"  she  exclaimed  de- 
cidedly, "  if  ever  there  was  one." 

"  I  guess  I  don't  want  you  to  take  care  of  my 
baby,"  declared  Mrs.  Prouty,  hurrying  in.  "I'd 
rather  never  visit  with  my  cousin  who  has  come 
way  from  Illinois  a-purpose  to  see  me,  and  we 
hain't  seen  each  other  in  ten  years,  and  was  lot- 
tin'  on  this  chance;  but  I  ain't  going  to  have 
Arabella  told  to  her  face  that  she's  a  bad  child. 
So  you  needn't  come  again,  Rosalie  Brimmer," 
and  she  gathered  her  cherub  up  into  her  ample 
lap,  and  began  petting  her  violently. 

"  She  bit  my  thumb,"  said  Rosalie,  displaying 
it,  the  warm  color  not  going  down  in  her  cheek, 
and  the  flash  in  the  brown  eyes  yet  remaining. 

Mrs.  Prouty  got  up,  tucked  Arabella  under 
one  arm,  and,  bending  over  the  injured  member, 
examined  it  carefully. 

"  It  was  an  awful  little  bite,"  she  said,  going 


SHE  BECAME  "COMPANY."       17 

back  again,  and  sitting  down.  "  There,  there, 
Arry  dear,  mamma's  got  you  again,  so  she  has." 

"It  hurt,"  said  Rosalie;  "she  took  just  the 
very  teeny  end  in  her  mouth,  and  her  teeth  are 
sharp." 

"  Well,  it  isn't  anything  to  make  such  a  fuss 
over,"  observed  Mrs.  Prouty,  "  I'm  sure.  You 
needn't  come  again,  anyway;  then  she  won't 
bite  your  thumbs." 

Rosalie  stood  quite  still.  Why  had  she  thrown 
away  the  only  chance  she  could  possibly  have 
possessed  of  earning  some  money  to  put  into 
the  new  business.  The  boys  were  working  away 
at  their  hateful  task,  brave  as  lions  in  fighting 
their  prejudices,  and  persistent  as  beavers  in 
good,  honest  toil.  She  wasn't  worthy  to  be  the 
"  Company,"  deserting  at  the  first  show  of  the 
disagreeable,  and  running  off  with  but  a  thought 
of  her  own  selfish  comfort.  Every  bit  of  color 
deserted  her  face,  and  she  turned  quite  pale  as  she 
came  up  to  Mrs.  Prouty's  chair,  saying :  "  Please 
try  me  again  ;  I  was  naughty  to  be  vexed." 

Mrs.  Prouty  looked  up,  her  fat  face  gathering 
a  surprised  expression  along  its  lines  and  curves,1 
to  mingle  with  the  annoyance  that  had  taken 
first  possession  of  the  broad  expanse. 


18  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"You  are  sure  you  won't  fight  her?"  she  said, 
looking  the  sorry  little  face  over  keenly. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rosalie.  "Do  try  me  once  more, 
Mrs.  Prouty." 

"  Well,  then,  I  will,"  said  Arabella's  mother, 
with  a  sigh  of  relief,  "for  'twas  pretty  tough 
for  me  to  have  my  cousin  find  me  all  tied  up,  and 
she  coming  way  from  Illinois,  and  we  hain't 
seen  each  other  in  ten  years.  Now,  then,  Arry, 
you  play  pretty,  and  I'll  run  back  to  the  kitchen 
and  bake  that  plum  cake  Belinda  was  so  fond 
of,"  and  she  set  the  baby  down  in  a  heap  in  the 
middle  of  the  floor,  twitched  her  dress  straight, 
and  was  off. 

How  thankful  was  Rosalie  to  be  "  Company  " 
once  more,  with  a  chance  to  earn  honorable 
money,  and  step  into  the  firm  with  a  happy 
pride.  Somehow  the  thumb  stopped  aching,  and 
she  actually  found  herself  laughing  at  Baby,  and 
forgetting  that  she  was  homely  and  cross, 
and  the  sun  seemed  to  shine  brighter  than  ever, 
and  outside  a  little  bird  twittered  and  called,  and 
Arabella  capped  the  climax  by  putting  up  her 
chubby  face  to  be  kissed,  and  said  "  Stay,"  and 
held  her  gown  when  it  was  time  for  the  small 
nurse  to  go  home. 


HOW  SUE  BECAME  "  COMPANY."       19 

"Mamsie,"  cried  Rosalie,  rushing  into  the  old 
house  and  tossing  her  bonnet  into  a  corner,  "  I've 
had  a  mixed  day,  but  it  was  better  at  the  top. 
Has  Primrose  got  home  ?  " 

"  No ;  aunt  Jane  begged  to  keep  her  until 
four  o'clock,  and  I  hadn't  the  heart  to  refuse." 

"Then  she'll  have  to  go  to  bed  in  an  hour. 
O  Mamsie ! "  cried  Rosalie  in  dismay. 

"  I  know  it's  been  hard  for  you  to  be  without 
her  all  day,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  with  a  glance 
at  the  tired  little  face,  "but  only  think  of  poor 
aunt  Jane." 

"  1  know  it,"  said  Rosalie,  swallowing  bravely 
the  lump  in  her  throat,  "and  that  old  yellow  cat 
all  her  company.  I  ought  to  be  glad  to  give 
Primrose  to  her  for  one  day.  Where  are  the 
boys  ?  "  she  asked  suddenly. 

"  They  came  in  from  their  work,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer,  "  about  half  an  hour  ago ;  Jack  went 
to  the  store  for  molasses,  and  Cornelius  is  "  — 

"Here,"  said  that  individual,  sauntering  in. 
"  Ha,  Rosy !  "  He  gave  his  sister  a  comprehen- 
sive glance  that  informed  him  of  her  mental  and 
moral  tone,  "  Come  out  in  the  woodshed,  will 
you?" 

Rosalie  ran  after  him,  and  Mother  Brimmer 


20  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

looked  up  from  her  sewing  to  send  a  smile  with 
them,  by  way  of  cheerful  accompaniment  to 
whatever  of  fun  might  be  in  store. 

Cornelius  carefully  closed  the  door  leading 
into  the  kitchen,  and  drew  a  long  breath  when 
they  found  themselves  safe  on  its  other  side. 

"I  tell  you  what,  Rosalie,"  he  said  deliber- 
ately, "making  pig-pens  is  bad  enough;  but 
making  a  pig-pen  for  Widow  Brown  is  the  mean- 
est piece  of  work  there  is  on  this  earth.  There ! " 

"Did  you  bring  me  out  here  away  from  Mam- 
sie,  just  to  tell  me  that?"  cried  Rosalie  indig- 
nantly, and  getting  down  from  her  tiptoes  to 
which  she  had  raised  herself  eagerly,  the  better 
to  compass  her  brother's  wonderful  news.  "Oh, 
oh!  I  thought  you  had  something  perfectly 
splendid  to  tell  me." 

"  I  didn't  say  I  had,"  said  Cornelius. 

"  But  you  looked  so,"  cried  Rosalie,  in  a  dud- 
geon, "just  as  plain  as  could  be.  Your  face 
said, '  I  know  something  that  I'll  tell  you  if  you'll 
come.'  So,  there  now,  Cornelius  Brimmer." 

"You  needn't  have  come,"  declared  Cornelius 
coolly.  "  I  didn't  say  so,"  he  repeated. 

"You  are  just  as  mean  as  anything,"  cried 
Rosalie ;  "  as  mean  as  your  pig-pen  is,  every  bit, 


HOW  SHE  BECAME  "COMPANY."       21 

and  I  sha'n't  stay  here  to  talk  with  you,  because 
you  haven't  anything  really  to  tell  me,"  and  she 
began  to  move  with  dignity  to  the  door. 

"  Stay,  Rosalie,"  cried  Cornelius,  his  manner 
changing  suddenly.  "  I  was  going  to  say  that 
although  pig-pens  are  hateful  things  to  clean 
and  set  up,  and  Widow  Brown's  is  the  meanest 
pig-pen  of  the  whole  lot,  still  there  are  some 
things  that  make  it  pleasant  to  work  amongst 
them.  Do  you  want  to  hear  what  I  found  this 
afternoon  in  the  middle  of  a  dirt-pile  as  large  as 
your  head  ?  A  five  dollar  gold  piece ! " 


CHAPTER  III. 

IS    IT  EIGHT? 

"OUT,  Corny,"  cried  Rosalie,  with  bated 
•*r*  breath,  "it  is  not  your  very  own  five  dol- 
lars." Still  she  could  not  keep  her  eyes  off 
from  the  bright  bit  in  the  centre  of  the  brown 
palm  held  out  before  her. 

"  Hoh !  hoh !  just  like  a  girl ;  knows  nothing 
of  business.  If  a  man  picks  up  a  thing  in  the 
road,  and  don't  know  who  dropped  it,  what's  he 
to  do,  pray  tell  ?  Don't  be  a  goose,  Rosy,"  he 
cried,  affectionately,  and  clapping  his  fingers 
tight  over  his  treasure.  "I  tell  you,  this  will 
set  us  up  in  trade,  though ! " 

"  But  you  didn't  pick  it  up  in  the  road,"  per- 
sisted Rosalie,  "  and  —  " 

"  Perhaps  the  pigs  dropped  it,"  cried  Cornelius, 
bursting  into  a  loud  laugh  ;  "let's  ask  them." 

"Does  Jack  know?"  asked  Rosalie,  not  heed- 
ing the  laugh. 


IS  IT  RIGHT  f  23 

"I  hadn't  the  shadow  of  a  chance  to  tell  him," 
declared  Cornelius,  and  spinning  around  first  on 
one  set  of  toes,  then  on  the  other.  "He  left 
the  Widow  Brown's  early,  to  try  to  get  that  job 
at  Miss  Gimp's.  I  tell  you,  Jack  is  a  master 
hand  at  drumming  up  work." 

At  any  other  time  Rosalie  would  have  been 
led  into  a  laudable  curiosity  as  to  the  little 
dressmaker's  contemplated  improvements  of 
house  or  barn,  but  to-night  Cornelius's  well-di- 
rected efforts  in  that  line  failed  utterly. 

"Jack  ought  to  know,"  she  exclaimed,  decid- 
edly, "every  single  bit  about  that  five  dollars, 
now,  Cornelius  Brimmer." 

"Jack  won't  know,"  cried  Cornelius,  flatly; 
"he'd  be  such  a  silly  as  to  say  'Take  it  right 
back  and  put  it  where  you  found  it,'  for  aught 
I  know.  I  believe  he'd  rather  the  pigs  swal- 
lowed it.  I  asked  the  "Widow  Brown,  and  she 
said  she  never  knew  what  it  was  to  have  a  five 
dollar  gold  piece  to  lose,  so  now  I'm  going  to  be 
let  alone  to  enjoy  it  in  peace;"  and  he  crammed 
it  into  his  jacket  pocket  and  began  to  walk  up 
and  down  the  woodshed  with  the  manners  of  a 
millionnaire. 

Down  the  stairs  it  pealed  quite 


24  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

distinctly.  There  was  no  use  to  evade  it. 
Mother  Brimmer  wanted  something  of  her  "lit- 
tle right-hand  man,"  as  she  called  her  ten-year- 
old  daughter,  and  the  girl,  generally  glad  to  go 
at  her  bidding,  walked  slowly  backward  to  the 
door,  still  keeping  her  eyes  on  the  man  of  affairs. 

"You  ought  to  give  it  back,"  she  said  with 
slow  distinctness. 

"  But  I  don't  know  whose  it  is,"  cried  Corny, 
turning  at  the  end  of  his  walk  to  face  her  obsti- 
nately. "There,  mother's  calling  you.  You 
ought  to  hurry  up.  You  are  slower  than  stock 
still." 

The  moment  that  he  heard  the  door  close  at 
the  head  of  the  steps,  what  did  Corny  do  but 
throw  his  cap  on  his  head,  rush  out  of  the  wood- 
shed and  off  at  a  tearing  pace  to  the  parsonage, 
a  good  quarter  of  a  mile  distant. 

"  It's  one  of  them  Brimmer  boys,"  said  Han- 
nah, throwing  wide  the  study  door. 

"Let  him  come  in,"  said  the  parson,  taking 
his  gaze  off  from  the  cheerful  pages  of  the  com- 
mentary, and  pushing  his  spectacles  above  his 
tired  eyes. 

Corny  was  close  behind  Hannah's  ample  fig- 
ure, and  now  disclosed  his  round  countenance, 


IS  IT  EIGHT  ?  25 

over  which  a  shade  of  perplexity  quite  foreign 
to  him  was  rapidly  settling. 

"Well,  my  boy,"  began  Parson  Higginson, 
keeping  his  thumb  in  the  book  to  mark  the 
place,  and  bringing  his  spectacles  to  bear  upon 
his  caller,  "  what  is  it?  " 

"If  you  had  found  a  five  dollar  gold  piece  in 
a  pig-pen,"  cried  Corny,  breathlessly,  "what 
would  you  do  with  it  ?  " 

"Found  a  jive  dollar  gold  piece  in  a  pig-pen  ?" 
repeated  the  parson,  in  astonishment.  "Why, 
I  should  return  it,"  he  declared  morally. 

"To  the  pigs?"  asked  Corny,  with  the  de- 
lightful freedom  of  one  perfectly  conversant 
with  the  ways  of  the  parsonage. 

"To  the  owner  of  the  pig-pen,  Cornelius," 
said-  Parson  Higginson.  "I  should  at  once 
carry  it  to  him.  He  probably  dropped  it  when 
performing  his  duties  in  caring  for  his  animals." 

"It  isn't  him,  it's  her.  It's  the  Widow 
Brown,"  said  Corny,  "  and  she  hasn't  performed 
any  duties  caring  for  her  animals,  for  it's  as  dirty 
there  as  —  the  pigs,"  he  brought  up,  adding,  "and 
besides,  she  says  she  never  had  a  five  dollar  gold 
piece  to  lose.  Now  what  would  you  do?" 

The   minister  leaned  back   in   his  well-worn 


26  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

study  chair  and  pondered  a  bit,  Corny  watching 
every  line  of  his  face  with  intense  anxiety.  At 
last  Parson  Higginson  broke  out,  "Why  didn't 
you  go  to  your  mother  with  this  difficulty?" 

"I  couldn't,"  said  the  boy,  "because  I  should 
have  let  out  why  I  want  to  keep  it,  and  she's 
not  to  know  a  word  about  the  little  red  shop 
till  we're  sure  it  can  be  started." 

"  Tell  me,"  said  the  parson  with  great  interest, 
and  bringing  down  his  gaze  to  the  round  face, 
"  all  about  this  little  red  shop  matter." 

So  Corny  launched  forth  on  the  brilliant 
scheme  that  Jack,  who  was  always  a  royal  fellow 
at  a  plan,  besides  being  the  man  of  the  house  in 
everything  else,  had  hit  upon,  by  which  the 
children  of  the  family  were  to  earn  money  to 
take  care  of  Mother  Brimmer  and  the  baby. 

"Rosy's  coming  into  the  plan  too,"  said 
Corny,  winding  up ;  "  she's  only  a  girl,"  in  a 
shamefaced  way,  "and  of  course  don't  know 
anything  about  business,  but  Jack  said,  'Let 
her  in,'  so  she's  got  to  come." 

"Of  course,"  said  Parson  Higginson,  "and 
very  proper  it  is,  too,  that  she  should  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  partnership.  You  might  make 
her  the  Company." 


75  IT  EIGHT?  27 

"Why,  that's  just  what  we  have  done,"  ex- 
claimed Corny  in  delight,  that  the  minister  had 
guessed  so  quickly,  and  beginning  to  think  that 
if  the  parson  approved  of  the  girl  of  the  family 
entering  the  business,  it  must  be  the  correct 
thing.  "  Jack  would  have  her  be  the  Company." 

"Now,  you  say  that  your  mother  has  given 
you  that  old  red  tool-house  on  your  place  for 
your  own  especial  use  ?  I  want  to  understand 
it  thoroughly,  before  I  give  any  advice  in  this 
matter."  The  minister  folded  his  hands  and 
listened  with  as  much  respectful  attention  as  if 
his  deacons  were  conferring  with  him  on  some 
important  church  matters.  Corny  was  im- 
mensely set  up  by  his  manner,  but  he  tried  not 
to  show  it. 

"  Yes,  sir !  "  he  declared  emphatically ;  "  she's 
told  us  many  a  time  we  might  do  anything  with 
it  we  chose — pull  down  the  old  thing  if  we 
wanted  to." 

"  That's  good."  Parson  Higginson  nodded 
his  satisfaction.  "  Now,  then,  I  advise  that  you 
fix  your  new  quarters  to  your  liking,  stock  up, 
and  get  your  trade  just  as  soon  as  possible." 

Corny's  sturdy  brown  hand  twitched  at  his 
pocket.  "That's  what  this  would  have  done," 


28  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

and  he  pulled  out  the  five  dollar  gold  piece  and 
laid  it  suddenly  between  the  parson's  long, 
folded  fingers. 

The  minister  let  the  shining  coin  lay  just 
where  the  boy  had  dropped  it,  and  went  on. 

"  Now  I  have  a  little  money  by  me  that  I  am 
not  going  to  use.  I  would  like  to  put  it  into  a 
new  firm  called  Brimmer  &  Company,  who  shall 
invest  it  in  a  stock  that  they  shall  sell,  and  when 
the  profits  are  counted  up,  they  shall  pay  me 
back  what  I  put  in.  I  shall  be  a  sort  of  a  silent 
partner,  you  know ;  at  least  till  the  business 
gets  fairly  started  and  in  good  paying  condition. 
Do  you  see,  my  boy  ?  " 

Corny  did  see,  and  his  breath  came  quickly, 
and  the  color  mounted  his  round  cheek. 

"  And  the  first  thing  that  the  new  firm  is  to 
do  in  the  little  red  shop,"  continued  the  parson, 
"will  be  to  put  up  a  notice  in  one  of  the  win- 
dows—  FOUND.  A  five  dollar  gold  piece.  In- 
quire within,  of  Brimmer  &  Co." 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A   NEW   FORCE. 

rriHE  little  old  tool-house  on  the  Brimmer 
grounds  was  the  scene  of  the  liveliest  in- 
terest about  these  times,  and  Jack  and  Cornelius 
had  all  they  could  do  to  answer  questions,  while 
even  Rosalie  was  not  allowed  to  accomplish  an 
errand  without  many  interruptions.  Finally  it 
got  to  be  so  bad  that  she  sat  down  on  the  back 
doorsteps,  one  day,  in  despair. 

"I'm  so  tired  of  saying  'You  will  all  know 
what  we  are  doing  with  our  tool-house  at  the 
proper  time.'  It's  excessive-ous-ly  unpleasant  to 
be  asked  it  all  the  while,  over  and  over." 

Corny  dropped  his  saw  and  threw  himself  to 
the  ground,  where  he  rolled,  laughing  convul- 
sively, "O  dear,  Rosy!  you  will  kill  me  —  ex- 
cess "  —  then  he  went  off  again. 

"  I  wouldn't,  Rosy,"  said  Jack,  "  use  big  words 
when  smaller  ones  would  do." 


30  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"Girls  always  do,"  said  Corny,  as  he  rolled, 
"and  she's  worse  than  any  of  them,  excess  — 
Odear!" 

"Girls  always  talk  much  nicer  than  boys," 
said  Rosalie,  drawing  herself  up  with  so  much 
dignity  that  she  nearly  tumbled  backwards  off 
the  steps.  "Miss  Smith  said  that  very  word 
last  Sunday,  and  I'm  sure  she's  perfectly  elegant." 

"Miss  Smith  would  be  pleased  to  hear  the 
new  rendering  of  her  fine  word,"  observed  Corny 
faintly. 

"  Well,  I  wouldn't,  Rosy,"  said  Jack  kindly, 
and  hurrying  on  with  his  work,  "say  a  single 
word  that  was  bigger  than  was  necessary.  Now, 
old  fellow,  stop  grinning  like  a  Cheshire  cat  and 
shake  yourself.  You'd  look  better  handling 
that  saw."  He  gave  Corny  a  poke  with  his  foot 
by  no  means  gentle.  "  Can't  you  see  she  feels 
badly?"  he  managed  to  say  in  a  whisper  as  he 
passed  him,  pretending  it  was  all  on  account  of 
his  work. 

"  She's  so  ridiculous,"  whispered  Corny  back 
again,  "and  that's  the  way  she  will  talk  in  the 
new  shop.  Something  must  be  done  to  stop  her." 

But  Jack  was  off,  measuring  the  boards  for 
the  new  shelves,  so  he  didn't  hear,  and  Rosalie, 


A  NEW  FORCE.  31 

feeling  that  her  dignity  called  for  the  sacrifice, 
got  up  from  her  step  and  took  herself  and  her 
injured  feelings  into  the  house. 

"  I'm  in  a  pretty  mess,"  declared  Corny,  find- 
ing his  feet,  and  gazing  at  the  vacant  steps,  "  it 
makes  a  fellow  feel  mean  as  dirt  to  be  where  I 
am.  This  old  saw  won't  cut  a  stroke  till  I  make 
my  peace  with  her."  He  turned  off  with  a 
grimace  from  the  work-bench,  and  hopping  over 
the  steps  overtook  Rosalie  in  a  corner  of  the 
back  hall. 

"See  here,  Rosy,  you  know  I  didn't  mean 
that."  He  gave  her  arm  a  loving  pinch  of  the 
brotherly  sort,  and  turned  her  squarely  around 
so  that  he  could  see  her  face. 

Rosy  twisted  off  again.  It  wasn't  best  to 
accept  too  sudden  overtures ;  and  Corny  peni- 
tent and  suing  for  favor,  was  a  very  different 
person  from  the  every-day  brother,  so  she  only 
said  carefully,  "  It's  very  hard  not  to  be  appre- 
ciated when  one  wants  to  talk  nicely." 

"I  know  it,"  said  Cornelius,  swallowing  his 
dislike  of  the  long  word,  "  and  I'll  try  awfully 
hard  not  to  act  like  such  a  donkey  again.  Make 
up,  Rosy,  and  let's  be  friends,  do." 

Rosalie,  thinking  this  the  best  concession  she 


32  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

could  get,  turned  back,  and  allowed  another 
brotherly  pinch,  which  was  the  nearest  to  a 
caress  that  Cornelius  ever  indulged  in.  After 
this,  the  make-up  was  perfect ;  and  the  two  ran 
out  to  the  fascinating  scene  of  their  labors, 
where  Corny  picked  up  his  saw,  and  Rosalie 
seated  herself  once  more  on  her  step  in  high 
satisfaction  at  being  again  in  the  midst  of  things, 
with  dignity  that  no  one  could  question. 

"I  shall  make  some  of  those  cunning  little 
draw  curtains,  that  slide  back  and  forth  so 
nicely,"  she  cried.  "  Mother  Brimmer  said  she 
would  give  me  some  of  that  red  calico  in  her 
bag.  Then  you  can  keep  lots  and  lots  of  things 
just  as  clean  on  the  shelves.  Oh!  you  can't 
think,  Corny." 

"That  will  be  fine,"  said  Jack,  nodding  ap- 
proval at  the  Company,  as  he  merrily  drove  his 
nails. 

"And  I  tell  you  another  thing,  too,  you  might 
do,"  said  Corny,  "  something  that  will  help  ever 
so  much.  You  might  line  some  boxes  with  clean 
white  paper.  Don't  you  know  that  lot  that 
Parson  Higginson  gave  me  ?  Well,  you  can 
make  some  paste,  and  the  boxes  are  in  the  wood- 
shed. You  can  do  that  splendidly." 


A  NEW  FORCE.  33 

"  I  shall  go  right  to  work  and  do  them  now," 
cried  Rosy  in  great  excitement,  and  flying  from 
her  steps.  "Mother  Brimmer  will  let  me  make 
the  paste,  I  know." 

"And  you'll  find  the  paper  in  my  drawer," 
shouted  Corny  after  her,  much  to  Jack's  and 
her  own  amazement.  When  had  he  ever  allowed 
her  unattended,  to  see  the  interior  of  the  drawer 
holding  his  treasures?  Jack  looked  quickly 
over  and  gave  him  a  flash  of  approval  from  his 
dark  eyes.  Corny  fell  to  work  again,  and  pre- 
tended not  to  see  it,  but  he  felt  it  to  the  tips 
of  his  toes,  and  through  every  fibre  of  his  being. 

When  Rosalie  came  back,  she  was  dragging 
after  her  several  boxes  of  different  sizes,  and 
hugging  tightly  with  one  arm  a  cup  of  paste  in 
which  was  sticking  up  the  brush  like  a  pennon- 
less  flag-staff.  The  roll  of  paper  was  in  one  of 
the  boxes. 

"There,  I've  got  all  the  things,"  she  an- 
nounced, "  and  I'll  have  a  splendid  table  on  this 
upper  step,"  and  she  set  the  paste-cup  down 
carefully.  "  O  Jack !  you  can't  think  who's  in 
the  house,"  she  cried,  as  she  lifted  the  boxes  up 
to  their  place  and  flung  herself  down  beside 
them. 


34  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"Who?"  asked  Jack  carelessly;  "there,  this 
is  the  last  shelf,  Corny;  it's  well  it  is,  for  our 
lumber  has  given  out." 

"Miss  Peaseley,"  said  Rosy,  dabbing  her 
brush  up  and  down  in  the  cup.  "  O  dear !  Pin 
afraid  this  is  too  thin." 

"  Miss  Peaseley ! "  repeated  Jack  in  astonish- 
ment, while  Corny  gave  a  low  whistle.  "  What- 
ever has  she  come  for?"  added  Jack. 

"  I  didn't  wait  to  see,"  said  Rosalie ;  "  I  just 
ran.  I  left  a  splendid  box  too,  back  of  the  tub 
in  the  woodshed,  but  I  thought  I'd  better  go  be- 
fore she  wanted  me." 

"Wise  girl,"  said  Corny,  coming  out  of  his 
whistle.  "  Hem  —  there  she  comes  !  " 

None  too  soon  was  the  warning  given.  Steps 
along  the  gravel  walk  running  around  from  the 
front  door,  gave  notice  that  some  heavy  body 
was  nearly  in  sight ;  and  presently  around  a  clump 
of  lilacs  came,  with  head  erect,  and  tall  square 
figure  bearing  down  upon  them  like  a  man-of- 
war,  Miss  Clorinda  Peaseley. 

"  Well,  Jack,  I  should  say,"  she  began,  taking 
them  all  in  with  a  comprehensive  glance,  "  that 
I  really  should  have  thought  you'd  have  told 
me  before  you  began  such  a  business  as  this. 


A  NEW  FORCE.  35 

To  think  of  taking  a  tool-house  one  hundred 
and  fifty  years  old,  that's  been  on  this  place 
ever  since  any  one  can  remember,  and  turning 
it  into  a  shop !  What  in  the  world  are  you  go- 
ing to  sell  in  it,  pray  tell  ?  "  she  finally  brought 
up  in  a  direct  question. 

Rosy  bent  her  head  over  a  box,  and  very  care- 
fully began  to  paste  the  paper  on  one  side,  pat- 
ting out  the  wrinkles  in  an  absorbed  way  as  if 
life  had  no  other  attraction  for  her  eyes  and 
ears.  Corny  sawed  fast  and  hard.  Jack  said 
concisely,  —  "  Potatoes,  beans,  apples,  and  a  few 
other .  things  at  first.  When  we  get  fairly 
started,  we  hope  to  keep  what  people  will  be 
likely  to  call  for." 

"The  idea!  "  cried  Miss  Peaseley,  lifting  her 
black  gloves  in  impressive  disapproval,  and  leav- 
ing them  mid-air ;  "  potatoes,  beans  and  apples. 
Well,  I  should  not  think  your  mother  would 
allow  such  carryings  on.  But  since  you  are 
fairly  in  it —  How  soon  do  you  calculate  to 
get  your  business  under  way,  and  open  your 
shop?  "  she  demanded,  breaking  off  suddenly. 

"I  don't  know,"  said  Jack.  "It  takes  longer 
to  finish  a  job  than  one  would  think.  There  are 
these  shelves  to  make  and  put  in,  and  *  — 


36  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

."  You  ought  to  have  the  old  thing  painted  all 
over,"  cried  Miss  Peaseley,  interrupting;  "it's 
as  dingy  as  the  dogs,  and  looks  like  Kedar." 

"Who  is  Kedar? "asked  Rosalie,  unable  to 
keep  still,  and  stopping  her  work  suddenly. 

"  Never  mind,  child,"  said  Miss  Peaseley  has- 
tily. "Well,  I  don't  approve  of  this  new 
scheme  of  yours.  Remember,  I  don't  approve 
at  all;  but  since  you  are  in,  why,  I  want  you  to 
have  things  ship-shape.  Now,  I'll  tell  you  what 
I'll  do,  Jack  —  and  when  I  say  Jack,  I  mean  all 
the  firm,  Company  included.  I'll  make  you, 
every  week,  four  pounds  of  my  very  best  butter," 
here  Miss  Peaseley's  neck  unconsciously  stiff- 
ened itself  worse  than  ever,  "  and  half  a  dozen 
doughnuts ;  none  of  your  little  snipper-snapper 
things  —  the  two-bites-of-a-cherry  kind  —  but 
sensible  ones  that  make  you  feel  that  you  are 
eating  something ;  and  you  won't  have  any  diffi- 
culty in  trading  them  off,  I  think,"  she  finished 
complacently. 

"  Oh !  we  couldn't  ever  pay  you  for  them," 
cried  Jack  in  consternation  ;  "  don't  you  see  we 
haven't  any  money  scarcely  to  begin  on,  and  we 
must  commence  very  carefully." 

"  Do  you  suppose  I  imagine  you  are  million- 


A  NEW  FORCE.  37 

naires?"  cried  Miss  Peaseley  with  a  snort.  "  I'm 
going  to  make  terms  easy  for  you;  in  fact,  I 
want  you  to  take  these  things  off  my  hands, 
and  I  shall  consider  that  I  get  my  pay  if  you 
look  after  that  mother  of  yours  and  that  baby." 
And  as  quickly  as  she  had  come,  she  disap- 
peared behind  the  lilac  bushes. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A   NEW   TURN   OF    AFFAIBS. 

JACK  dropped  his  hammer  and  stared  at  the 
other  members  of  the  firm.  "Whew!" 
cried  Corny. 

"O  Jack!"  exclaimed  Rosalie,  flying  away 
from  her  paste-pot  and  brush  to  his  work-bench, 
"  what  shall  we  do  ?  Now  she'll  want  to  be  the 
silent  partner." 

"  If  she'd  be  that,  no  one  would  care,"  cried 
Cornelius,  "but  she'll  own  us,  little  red  shop 
and  all,  and  keep  us  going  her  way,  and  mind- 
ing her  tongue,  just  because  she  gives  us  butter 
and  doughnuts." 

Jack's  brown  face  flushed.  "We  shall  not 
accept  them,"  he  said  gravely.  "  No  one  shall 
give  us  things  —  the  Brimmers  aren't  beggars," 
he  added  proudly. 

"  The  butter  is  prime,"  said  Cornelius  slowly. 
"You  know  how  good  it  tastes  when  we  go 
38 


A  NEW  TURN  OF  AFFAIRS.  39 

there  to  supper,  and  the  doughnuts" —  He 
smacked  his  lips,  unable  to  find  words.  "  Well, 
they'd  sell,"  he  added  decidedly. 

"  They  won't  sell  from  our  shop,"  cried  the 
senior  member,  in  decision  to  match,  "not  if 
they've  got  to  be  given  to  us  first.  We  don't 
want  any  one  to  be  saying  he  or  she  has  made 
our  fortune.  There  isn't  the  man  in  Cherryfield 
I'd  take  favors  from  like  that."  Jack  brought 
his  hand  down  so  suddenly  on  the  bench  that 
Rosy  skipped  away  a  step  or  two;  his  brown 
eyes  flashed  as  they  had  never  seen  them,  and 
altogether  the  rest  of  the  firm  found  him  a  new 
picture  to  look  upon. 

"Oh!  well,  give  'em  up,  of  course,"  said 
Corny,  after  another  study  of  him ;  "  who  wants 
the  old  things,  anyway  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  veering 
round. 

"  I  didn't  say  we  ought  to  give  them  up,"  said 
Jack,  cooling  down;  "why  can't  we  trade  just 
as  other" — men,  he  was  going  to  say,  then 
looked  at  Rosy  —  "  business  houses  do ;  pay  her 
so  much  for  her  butter  and  doughnuts,  and  then 
sell  for  what  we  can  get,  or  she  pay  us  so  much 
a  pound  for  selling  all  we  can  handle." 

"O,  Jack!  I  shouldn't  wish  to  touch  it;  Mamsie 


40  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

will  lend  us  spoons  and  knives,"  cried  Rosy, 
quite  horrified,  "I  know  she  will." 

"  You  didn't  suppose  I  meant  touch  the  butter 
with  our  fingers,  did  you?"  exclaimed  Jack, 
with  as  great  horror.  "  It's  a  business  term, 
Rosy,  you  don't  understand." 

"  I  told  you  she  wouldn't  understand  things," 
broke  in  Cornelius,  not  able  to  keep  from  looking 
in  disfavor  at  the  girl  of  the  family.  Then  he 
remembered  his  promise,  and  stopped  short. 
"  We  might  make  a  dictionary  of  business  talk 
and  hang  it  up  in  the  shop ;  then  Rosy  would 
know  what  we  meant,"  he  suggested. 

"I  think  we  shall  find  it  necessary,"  said 
Jack  shortly.  He  couldn't  quite  get  over  the 
thought  that  any  one  could  suppose  him  capable 
of  any  but  the  nicest  manners. 

"You  said  handle,"  observed  Rosalie,  to  clear 
herself  from  all  unpleasant  imputation,  "  and  if 
you  had  meant  anything  else  you  should  have 
said  so,"  she  added  convincingly. 

"I  suppose  I  should,"  said  Jack.  "Well, 
never  mind,  I'll  begin  again.  Now,  come  to 
think  it  alt  over,  I  believe  the  best  way  is  to  sell 
Miss  Peaseley's  butter  and  doughnuts  for  her, 
and  charge  her  so  much  a  pound  and  so  much 


A  NEW  TURN   OF  AFFAIRS.  41 

a  dozen  for  the  selling.  Then,  you  see,  there 
won't  be  any  trouble,  and  we  will  be  commission 
merchants  as  far  as  she  is  concerned,  and  we 
can  keep  our  accounts  all  straight." 

"Commission  merchants  does  sound  so  very 
nice,"  observed  Rosy,  clasping  her  hands  in 
satisfaction.  "O,  Jack!  I  should  fix  it  that 
way." 

"All  right,"  said  Corny;  "I'm  glad  we  can 
have  the  things,  and  not  be  under  her  thumb. 
They'll  sell  splendidly,  Jack,"  he  declared. 

"Of  course  they  will,"  said  Jack,  delighted 
that  he  could  open  trade  in  a  way  to  suit  all 
parties.  "Now  let's  all  go  down  to  Miss  Pease- 
ley's  and  arrange  it  with  her." 

So  Cornelius  threw  down  his  saw  and  joined 
Jack.  Rosy  ran  in  and  washed  her  sticky  fin- 
gers, racing  after  the  boys,  who  had  gotten 
quite  a  little  distance  down  the  road,  screaming, 
"Wa-it!  I'm  Company  — oh!  wo-ft." 

The  other  two  members  turned  around :  "We 
are  waiting,  don't  you  see  ?  Don't  fluster  so." 

"You  were  awfully  slow,"  said  Corny,  falling 
into  step  with  her.  "There,  push  back  your 
hair,  or  Miss  Peaseley  will  read  you  a  lecture  as 
long  as  your  arm." 


42  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"  She  reads  me  one  anyway,  every  time  I  see 
her,"  panted  Rosy,  getting  the  hair  that  the 
wind  had  played  a  prank  with  in  her  race,  out 
of  her  eyes ;  "  the  last  one  was  on  turning  my 
toes  in  when  I  walked.  She  says  it  isn't  elegant, 
at  all." 

"Well,  you  want  so  badly  to  be  elegant," 
cried  Corny,  bursting  into  a  loud  laugh,  "  I 
should  think  you'd  be  obliged  to  her  for  calling 
your  attention  to  such  little  details  as  the  bad 
management  of  your  toes." 

"  I  am  obliged  to  her,"  said  Rosy,  "  and  I  do 
try  ever  since  to  turn  them  out." 

"  That's  what  makes  you  walk  lately  just  like  a 
crab,"  observed  Cornelius  pleasantly;  "I  thought 
you  were  going  on  your  nose  only  yesterday 
when  Mamsie  sent  you  on  that  errand.  You 
don't  know  how  you  looked,  Rose." 

"Well,  I  don't  think  we  are  any  of  us  as 
thankful  as  we  ought  to  be  to  Miss  Peaseley," 
Jack  broke  in,  as  he  stalked  on  by  Cornelius' 
other  side.  "  She's  given  us  a  great  lift  in  our 
business,  and  we  ought  to  show  her  that  we  ap- 
preciate it." 

"  I  think  so  too,"  agreed  Rosy,  who  liked  the 
long  word. 


A  NEW  TURN  OF  AFFAIRS.  43 

"Go  ahead,  Jack,  and  do  the  fine  thing,  and 
I'll  say  *  yes '  at  the  right  time.  Rosy,  you  bet- 
ter keep  still,  for  you  might  make  a  mistake," 
advised  Corny. 

"No;  I'm  going  to  thank  her  for  telling  me 
about  that  hateful  habit  with  my  toes,"  declared 
Rosalie  perversely.  "  I  am  glad  she  told  me  of 
it,  and  I  shall  tell  her  that  I'm  turning  them  out 
every  time  since  —  so." 

"You  may,  Rosy;  I  would  if  I  were  you," 
said  Jack  quickly,  with  a  pinch  on  Cornelius' 
fat  arm.  "  Well,  here  we  are,"  as  the  Peaseley 
homestead  came  into  view ;  and  the  "  Brimmer 
Company  "  walked  up  the  box-bordered  path  to 
the  side  door  with  quite  a  business  air,  and  all 
three  stood  on  the  flat  stone  that  served  as  a  step, 
anxiously  awaiting  the  opening  of  the  door. 

"The  idea!"  ejaculated  Miss  Clorinda,  raising 
her  hands  at  sight  of  them,  "  if  you  haven't  re- 
turned my  call  in  season.  I've  just  given  orders 
to  Hannah  about  your  butter  and  doughnuts. 

"  Miss  Peaseley,"  began  Jack. 

"  O,  Miss  Peaseley !  "  broke  in  Rosy-  impul- 
sively, "  I  think  it  was  very  good  in  you  to  tell 
me  about  turning  in  my  toes,  and  I've  turned 
'em  out  ever  since." 


44  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

"Well,  now  that  is  a  good  child,"  declared 
Miss  Peaseley,  startled  into  approval;  "walk 
right  in,"  and  she  flung  wide  the  green  door. 
"There,  come  in  here,"  and  she  hurried  them 
into  the  "keeping-room."  "I'll  see  if  I  can't 
find  some  doughnuts — they  won't  be  very 
good,"  she  added,  diving  into  the  ancient  side- 
board in  the  corner;  "they've  been  cooked  so 
long,  but  maybe  you  can  eat  them.  Yes,  here's 
a  plateful."  With  that,  she  advanced  on  the 
children  with  a  huge  blue  plate  filled  with  crisp 
toothsome  doughnuts  of  the  generous  pattern 
that  was  certainly  not  of  the  "  two-bites-of-a- 
cherry-kind." 

"  They're  awful  good,"  exclaimed  Cornelius. 

"  I  didn't  have  as  good  luck  as  common  with 
these,"  observed  Miss  Clorinda,  "  and  beside, 
they're  not  fresh  ;  but  my  doughnuts  are  gener- 
ally pretty  fair,  if  I  do  say  it,  who  ought  not  to." 

Rosy  was  eating  in  quiet  delight,  so  there 
was  no  fear  of  interruption  from  that  source, 
and  Jack  held  his  doughnut  while  he  began 
again,  -*-  "  Miss  Peaseley,  we've  all  come  to  tell 
you  that  we  thank  you  so  much  for  your  kind 
offer  to  help  us  in  our  business,  but  it  wouldn't 
be  right  to  accept  it,  for  "  — 


A   NEW  TURN  OF  AFFAIRS.  45 

"  Why  not,  pray  tell  ?  "  cried  Miss  Clorinda, 
interrupting  with  a  snort,  "if  I  choose  to  do  it 
—  say?" 

"  Because  we  never  have  let  anybody  help  us 
in  that  way,"  said  Jack  proudly,  "  and  "  — 

"You've  never  set  up  in  business  before  either, 
have  you  ?"  demanded  Miss  Peaseley.  "Now  I 
don't  approve  of  this  red  shop  affair,  and  all  the 
rest,  as  I  told  you  at  your  house,  but  if  you've 
commenced,  and  are  determined  to  go  on,  why, 
I'm  going  to  see  you  through,  that's  all.  So  I'll 
send  the  butter  and  the  doughnuts  every  week," 
she  brought  up  decidedly. 

"But  we  cannot  take  them  as  gifts,"  said  Jack 
firmly,  thinking  it  best  to  be  brief  if  he  got  a 
chance  to  speak  at  all ;  "  that's  what  we  came 
over  to  say.  We  will  sell  them  for  you." 

"  Sett  them  for  me!"  almost  screamed  Miss 
Peaseley,  "  why,  land  alive,  Jack,  I  don't  go 
around  the  country  selling  my  things ! " 

"I  know  it,"  said  Jack,  and  the  other  mem- 
bers stopped  eating  in  amazement,  to  listen  to 
him,  "  but  we  thought  if  you  really  wanted  to 
help  us,  you  would  put  some  butter  in  our  store 
for  us  to  sell,  and  pay  us  so  much  a  pound  for 
selling  it  for  you,  and  we  could  manage  the 


46  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

doughnuts  in  the  same  way.  That  would  be 
trade,  you  know.  The  other  way  would  be  "  — 

"What?"  demanded  Miss  Clorinda. 

"Just  the  same  as  if  we  were  lazy  beggars." 

Miss  Peaseley  turned  off  abruptly  with  a  sniff 
to  the  window,  and  stood  looking  out  a  minute, 
and  as  quickly  turned  back  again.  It  was  im- 
possible to  discover  by  her  manner  whether  or 
no  she  was  displeased  at  the  new  turn  the  affairs 
had  taken.  She  only  said,  "  All  right ;  we  will 
settle  it  so  if  you  like.  I  will  pay  you  five  cents 
for  every  pound  of  butter  you  sell  for  me,  and 
the  same  for  each  dozen  of  doughnuts." 

"  O,  Miss  Peaseley!  thank  you  ever  so  much," 
cried  Jack ;  "  we  shall  move  into  the  Red  Shop 
next  Tuesday,  and  will  then  be  all  ready  to 
open  accounts." 

Now  that  it  was  all  over,  his  hand  trembled 
so  that  he  could  scarcely  hold  his  doughnut. 

Rosy,  seeing  everything  moving  nicely,  went 
back  to  hers  in  serene  content. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

A  LIFT   INTO   SUCCESS. 

TTWERYTHING  is  now "— « bully,"  he 
-•"•"^  wanted  to  say,  but  stopped  in  time,  sub- 
stituting "just  royal!  You're  as  splendid  as 
you  can  be,  Miss  Peaseley."  This  was  Cornelius' 
tribute.  "And  we'll  do  the  right  thing  by 
you,"  he  added,  afraid  he  had  been  too  meekly 
thankful. 

"  Run  along  with  you,"  cried  Miss  Clorinda, 
with  a  short  laugh,  as  they  filed  to  the  door. 
"  Here,  you  might  as  well  put  these  doughnuts 
in  your  pockets ;  I  don't  want  them,  —  they're 
too  old.  And,  Rosy,  don't  you  forget  to  keep 
your  toes  turned  out,  that's  a  good  child." 

"  I  won't,"  promised  Rosy,  as  they  sped  off. 

And  just  as  soon  as  those  Brimmer  children 

were  fairly  out  of  sight,  Miss   Peaseley  went 

back  to  her  best  chamber,  drew  out  from  the 

big  bureau  drawer  the  Sunday  shawl  she  had 

47 


48  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

scarcely  put  away,  and  took  down  her  bonnet 
once  more  from  the  peg  in  the  closet. 

"  I  might  as  well  do  it  up  now.  If  it  waits, 
it  will  lag  like  everything  else  that  is  put  off." 

So  she  pinned  herself  into  her  shawl,  tied  on 
her  bonnet,  and  went  down  the  box-bordered 
path,  taking,  when  she  reached  the  gate,  a  dif- 
ferent road  from  the  one  over  which  the  chil- 
dren were  now  scampering  to  Brimmer  Place. 

When  Miss  Clorinda  Peaseley  reached  home, 
she  was  too  tired  to  do  anything  but  take  off 
her  things,  and  call  Betty  to  make  a  cup  of  tea. 

"I  declare,  I  never  was  so  beat  out;  but  I'm 
glad  enough  that  I've  got  their  promises  down 
in  black  and  white."  She  waved,  as  she  spoke, 
a  bit  of  paper,  across  whose  front  r-an  some  ten 
or  a  dozen  names.  "  There,  Betty,"  she  cried 
to  that  individual,  just  entering  the  door  with 
the  tea,  "  we  are  going  to  have  a  new  establish- 
ment in  Cherryfield,  —  quite  up  to  the  times, 
too,  it  will  be  kept,  or  I  miss  my  guess." 

"  Establishment !  "  repeated  Betty  helplessly, 
"  whatever  is  that,  Miss  Peaseley  ?  " 

"  Shop,"  cried  Miss  Clorinda,  seizing  the  tea, 
and  drawing  off  a  comfortable  swallow.  "  That's 
good,"  taking  another,  "  and  begins  to  stop  the 


A  LIFT  INTO   SUCCESS.  49 

ache  in  my  bones.  How  stupid  you  are,  Betty, 
not  to  know  your  English  tongue  any  better 
than  that.  However,"  as  the  fragrant  decoction 
began  to  thrill  her  with  new  life,  she  added 
more  politely,  "  establishment  is  not  a  very  com- 
mon word,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  you  did  not 
know  its  meaning." 

"It  is  not,  indeed,"  said  Betty.  "I  never 
heard  the  word  before,  and  when  folks  means 
shop,  it  passes  me  why  they  don't  say  shop." 

With  this  thrust,  she  was  quite  pleased,  and 
waited  patiently  to  hear  the  rest  of  the  news 
that  her  woman's  curiosity  longed  for. 

"  Well,  well,  say  no  more,"  commanded  Miss 
Peaseley,  not  disposed  to  give  the  good  woman's 
tongue  too  great  liberties;  "we  are  to  have  a 
new  business  firm  right  here  in  our  midst, — 
wide-awake,  and  sharp  as  steel,  too,  they  are." 

"My!"  ejaculated  Betty.  "Who  be  they, 
for  the  land's  sakes  tell,  Miss  Peaseley." 

"Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company,"  said  Miss 
Clorinda  quietly. 

"Brimmer  Brothers — who  —  why,  they  ain't 
any  relation  to  Mis'  Brimmer,  be  they  ?  " 

"They  are,"  said  Miss  Peaseley  as  quietly. 
"  Quite  closely  related." 


50  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  You  don't  say,"  exclaimed  Betty.  "  Cousin 
to  Mis'  Brimmer's  husband,  most  likely.  They 
can't  be  his  brothers,  because  they  all  died  before 
he  left  her  a  relict.  What's  brought  'em  to 
Cherryfield?" 

"  Nothing,"  said  Miss  Clorinda  in  the  crispest 
of  syllables.  "  They  have  always  lived  here." 

At  that,  Betty  forgot  her  curiosity,  and  ran 
to  her  mistress  to  peer  anxiously  into  her  face. 

"  Oh !  I  am  not  crazy,"  said  Miss  Clorinda 
composedly.  Then  she  laughed.  "I  might  as 
well  end  the  mystery  and  relieve  you  at  once, 
Betty ;  it's  Jack  and  Cornelius  and  Rosalie 
Brimmer,  who  are  going  to  open  a  shop  in  their 
old  red  tool-house  next  Tuesday.  There!  " 

"Mercy/"  screamed  Betty  shrilly,  stepping 
back  so  suddenly  that  she  nearly  fell  backward. 
"If  I  ever  did!  Them  children!'1''  It  was  im- 
possible to  give  all  the  scorn  she  felt  in  one  ren- 
dering, so  she  repeated  it —  "  Them  children  ! " 

"  They  are  young,"  said  Miss  Peaseley,  "  but 
as  I  don't  know  anything  against  them  but  their 
want  of  age,  I  shall  patronize  them  all  I  can." 

"  What  are  they  going  to  sell,  for  the  land's 
sakes,  tell,"  cried  Betty  in  amazement.  "  Rib- 
bins,  I  s'pose." 


A  LIFT  INTO  SUCCESS.  51 

"O,  no!  it  is  not  that  sort  of  a  shop;  at  least 
to  begin  with.  Why,  apples,  potatoes,  family 
provisions,  and  —  butter,  and  doughnuts,  Betty." 

"  And  you're  going  to  uphold  such  a  piece  of 
foolishness  as  to  buy  of  'em,"  exclaimed  Betty ; 
"like  enough  to  get  took  in  with  decayed  apples 
and  measly  potatoes.  I  sh'd  think  at  your  time 
of  life  you'd  have  more  sense,  Miss  Peaseley." 

"I'm  not  the  youngest  that  ever  was,"  con- 
fessed Miss  Clorinda,  not  a  whit  disturbed  at 
the  unusual  frankness  of  speech,  "yet  I  don't 
know  as  it's  anything  to  be  ashamed  of.  All 
the  more  reason,  maybe,  why  I  should  give 
young  people  a  chance.  Yes;  I  shall  trade 
there  as  much  as  I  can.  I've  been  around  and 
got  all  these  names  "  (with  that  she  waved  the 
paper  once  more  before  Betty's  eyes)  "  of  people 
who  promise  to  trade  there  too,  and  give  Brim- 
mer Brothers  and  Company  a  lift  into  success." 

"  What  in  the  world  do  you  want  to  buy 
doughnuts  for?"  demanded  Betty,  so  overcome 
by  the  general  announcement,  that  she  took 
refuge  in  details,  "  when  you've  got  me  to  make 
all  you  want  —  say?" 

"  Oh !  I  don't  expect  to  buy  any,"  said  Miss 
Peaseley  airily.  "  As  you  say,  I  don't  need  to. 


52  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

I  am  going  to  put  some  there  to  sell,  and  butter 
too."  It  was  all  out  now,  and  she  had  to  cough 
to  keep  herself  from  laughing  outright  at  her 
domestic's  face. 

"Sell?"  gasped  Betty.  "  Oh  —  for  —  the 
land's  —  sakes!"  and  she  sat  down  on  the  near- 
est chair  and  stared  at  her  mistress. 

"Now,  Betty,"  said  Miss  Clorinda  briskly, 
and  setting  down  her  empty  tea-cup,  "  I  know 
just  what  is  on  your  mind  to  say,  if  you  weren't 
so  shaken  by  surprise  as  to  be  unable  to  get  it 
out ;  that  a  Peaseley  never  has  been  known  to 
sell  a  fip's  worth,  and  that  you  should  think  I 
wouldn't  be  the  first  one  to  demean  myself  and 
the  name.  I  know  it  all,  Betty,  that  this  is 
what  you'd  like  to  say." 

"It  is,"  said  Betty,  staring  from  her  chair, 
"but  I  hain't  got  breath  to  speak  it." 

"  Well,  it's  understood  that  you  have  said  it," 
observed  Miss  Peaseley  coolly,  "so  we  needn't 
waste  any  more  time  in  comments.  It's  all  set- 
tled ;  I'm  to  trade  at  that  new  shop,  and  place 
butter  and  doughnuts  there  to  sell.  Now  you 
can  go  to  your  work  and  I'll  go  to  mine." 

Mother  Brimmer  had  been  the  most  consider- 
ate of  women  all  through  this  exciting  week : 


A  LIFT  INTO  SUCCESS.  53 

never  asking  questions,  nor  apparently  observing 
anything  unusual  in  the  goings-on  around  her. 

"She's  the  most  lovely  Moramie  in  the  world," 
declared  Rosy  in  the  confidential  shelter  of  the 
wood-pile.  "  I  do  appreciate  it  so,  —  her  never 
asking  us  things  when  we  are  determined  on 
giving  her  a  great  surprise.  It's  exceedingly 
polite  in  her." 

"  She's  of  course  the  best  woman  in  all  the 
world,"  cried  Jack  stoutly,  "and  we  three  must 
work  like  beavers  to  show  her  we  feel  it." 

"  She's  the  only  one,"  said  Cornelius  posi- 
tively; "the  others  are  just  bonnets  and  clothes, 
and  they  scold  and  fret,  or  else  they're  silly. 
She's  worth  working  for." 

"  And  the  baby,"  supplied  Rosalie,  "we  mustn't 
forget  that  Roly-Poly-Pinky  Woo  has  got  to 
have  some  money  earned  for  her." 

"We'll  never  forget  the  baby,"  cried  the  boys 
together.  "Come  on,  Primrose,"  as  a  small 
round  head  appeared  over  the  wood-pile. 

"  Two  budders,"  said  Primrose  gravely,  point- 
ing a  small  forefinger  at  the  boys,  "and  one 
owny  tony  sissy-bud."  After  finishing  taking 
the  census  of  the  family  she  dropped  her  little 
hand  quite  satisfied. 


54  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  Sissy-bud  is  coming,"  called  Rosalie.  "  She 
wants  me  to  make  a  cap  for  her  rag-doll.  I 
promised  it,  and  only  ran  out  to  tell  you  before 
you  went  to  Deacon  Jones  for  the  potatoes  and 
apples  that  I've  wound  all  the  string  into  —  a — 
ball."  The  last  was  uttered  under  some  diffi- 
culty, as  she  was  keeping  pace  with  the  quick 
time  that  Primrose's  little  fat  feet  were  making 
into  the  house. 

"  You're  a  good,  royal  Company ! "  shouted 
Jack  after  her. 

Company  waved  him  thanks  from  the  back 
door-step. 

"Now,  Cornelius,  every  moment  is  precious  of 
this  last  getting-ready  day.  We  must  be  off 
with  our  wheelbarrow  as  soon  as  you  can  say 
'Jack  Robinson,'  for  those  potatoes  and  apples, 
and  we  mustn't  forget  to  call  on  the  way  back 
at  the  Beechers  for  the  bag  of  turnip's." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FAIRLY   UNDER   WAY. 

IT  was  very  bright  and  gay  at  the  "Brim- 
mer Place  "  on  the  eventful  morrow.  Any 
one  approaching  it  from  Cherryfield  high  road 
could  almost  detect  the  prevailing  spirit  of  the 
occasion,  in  the  very  atmosphere,  and  the  flavor 
of  good-will  in  a  chance  passer-by. 

"  Going  to  see  the  Red  Shop,  and  the  new 
firm  —  hey?"  would  be  asked  by  the  pedestrian, 
or  sung  out  from  wagon  or  buggy  as  the  occu- 
pant paused  to  discuss  this  new  element  of 
town-life.  "Well,  you  better.  I  tell  you, 
Cherryfield's  going  to  wake  up  now.  I'd  advise 
you  to  drop  in  and  pay  your  respects." 

And  nearly  all  Cherryfield  did  send  that  day 
one  or  more  members  of  each  family  to  "  pay  its 
respects  "  to  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company. 

The  interior  of  the  little  Red  Shop,  not  for- 
getting the  responsibilities  it  had  assumed  on  its 
55 


66  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

entrance  into  the  great  world  of  business,  as  a 
centre  of  trade,  still  allowed  a  little  thread  of 
decoration  to  be  woven  in  by  the  Company  who 
would  have  been  delighted  to  array  the  whole 
apartment  in  gala  attire.  But  this  the  Brothers 
would  not  allow. 

"  It  looks  foolish,"  said  Jack,  while  Cornelius 
gave  "a  disapproving  sniff  when  it  was  proposed 
"to  spend  much  time  or  strength  in  putting 
pretty  things  up,  and  don't  seem  consistent  with 
the  hard  work  we've  all  got  to  do  to  show  peo- 
ple we  really  mean  to  make  this  thing  a  success. 
You  may  do  a  little,  though,  Rosy,"  he  added, 
with  a  kindly  look  at  her  disappointed  little 
face,  "  if  you  want  to." 

"  Don't,  Jack,"  put  in  Cornelius  in  alarm ; 
"she'll  stick  up  all  sorts' of  stuff  all  over  the 
walls.  Girls  always  do  if  you  tell  them  they 
can  do  anything;  they're  so  silly,  and  don't  know 
where  to  stop." 

"I  do  want  flowers,"  said  Rosalie,  with  a 
sorrowful  little  quiver  in  her  voice,  "  growing ; 
you  know  in  those  cracked  saucers  Mamsie  gave 
me,  with  moss  and  red-cups.  Can't  I  have 
those?" 

"  I  don't  see  why  not,"  Jack  had  said  with  a 


FAIRLY  UNDER    WAY.  57 

hearty  ring  in  his  voice,  and  pinching  Cornelius 
to  keep  him  still.  "  And  Holy  Poly  would  like 
to  help  you  get  them  in  the  woods." 

"Flowers!"  ejaculated  Corny,  turning  off  in 
disdain  to  kick  his  well-worn  shoes  into  the  peb- 
bles and  sticks  out  of  the  path. 

And  Holy  Poly,  when  the  matter  was  pro- 
posed to  her,  signified  grave  assent  to  the  plan, 
and  immediately  tied  on  her  pink  sunbonnet, 
begged  an  old  knife  of  Mamsie  to  dig  out  the 
roots  with,  and  besieged  Rosalie  every  ten  min- 
utes afterward  to  set  out  for  Bragget  Woods, 
the  scene  of  their  future  operations. 

All  this  had  been  done  a  week  ago,  and  now 
the  little  "  wood-gardens,"  as  Rosalie  and  Roly 
Poly  called  them,  held  their  little  lichens  and 
"  red-cups,"  ferns,  mosses,  and  partridge  berries, 
each  with  frond  and  spear  and  cup  bravely 
erect,  and  with  company  manners  on  as  if  to 
say,  "  See  us !  we'll  do  our  best  to  help  you." 
And  even  Jack  said  they  looked  very  well — 
"  For  a  girl,"  added  Cornelius.  And  now  here 
they  were  in  the  shop  on  small  brackets  of  the 
boys'  making,  firmly  fastened  to  the  walls. 

All  around  the  sides  of  the  shop  ran  the  bins, 
each  holding  its  portion  of  potatoes,  beans,  on- 


58  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

ions,  turnips,  cabbages,  and  anything  else  that 
it  appeared  to  the  Brimmer  Boys  that  they  could 
sell  well,  and  that  they  could  manage  to  secure 
for  this  first  day's  inspection.  And  up  in  one 
corner  was  the  department  for  the  small  fruits, 
tucked  into  the  protecting  angle  of  the  walls. 
Raspberries  from  their  own  vines,  blueberries 
picked  by  Holy  Poly's  patient  little  fingers,  and 
by  Rosy's  older  ones.  Currants,  gooseberries, 
and  whatever  came  in  their  way,  were  invitingly 
placed  before  their  would-be  purchasers. 

Down  one  side  of  the  shop,  in  front  of  its  row 
of  bins,  ran  the  counter,  where  all  parcels  were 
to  be  done  up,  orders  were  to  be  taken,  and  all 
the  bookkeeping  was  to  be  done.  For  this  pur- 
pose Jack  had  made  a  strong  book  by  tying  in 
fresh  leaves  to  an  old  leather  account-book  that 
had  been  his  father's;  to  this  he  had  tied  a 
freshly-sharpened  pencil.  As  this  was  to  be  a 
cash  store,  there  was  no  need  for  great  exertions 
in  the  way  of  bookkeeping;  and  each  one  of  the 
firm,  Company  included,  could  make  the  entries 
of  their  sales  with  their  own  hands. 

Cornelius  was  dreadfully  disappointed  when 
he  found  that  there  were  to  be  no  bills  to  be 
made  out  and  sent.  For  him,  the  glory  of  the 


FAIRLY  UNDER    WAY.  59 

Red  Shop,  and  the  whole  business,  was  sadly 
dimmed ;  and  it  took  much  patient  reasoning 
on  the  part  of  the  elder  member  of  the  firm, 
and  a  deal  of  sturdy  persistence  as  well,  to  make 
him  see  the  wisdom  of  such  a  course. 

"We  don't  know  enough,"  said  Jack,  "to 
keep  accounts  straight,  to  begin  with.  Besides, 
it's  safer  all  around  to  start  on  a  cash  basis, 
and  it's  the  only  way  that  I  shall  consent  to," 
he  was  obliged  to  add. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  Jack  had  asserted 
himself  as  the  most  important  member  of  the 
firm,  and  Cornelius,  quite  awed,  went  so  far  as 
to  beg  his  pardon  for  insisting  on  the  new  and 
ambitious  plan. 

All  the  children  wanted  Mother  Brimmer  to 
bring  out  her  knitting,  and  sit  in  the  rocking- 
chair  which  the  boys  begged  to  bring  over  from 
the  house,  and  receive  the  people  who  might  be 
drawn  to  the  shop.  But  she  shook  her  head. 

"That  wouldn't  be  good  for  the  business, 
children,"  she  declared  sagely,  "to  see  an  idle 
woman  sitting  up  ready  for  company." 

"  But  you  wouldn't  be  idle,"  said  all  three  to- 
gether ;  "  you'll  be  knitting  on  our  winter  stock- 
ings, Mamsie." 


60  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  I  shall  be  idle,  if  I  let  my  housework  go," 
said  Mother  Brimmer  decidedly,  "  and  take  my 
knitting  as  an  excuse  for  seeing  the  folks.  No, 
no,  dears,  I'll  run  in  once  and  awhile,  and  see 
you  all,  but  if  anybody  wants  to  see  me  to  talk 
and  visit,  they'll  find  me  where  I  ought  to  be, 
doing  my  work.  We'll  all  begin  right,  and 
then  'twon't  be  hard  to  keep  on  at  business." 

On  a  conspicuous  spot  on  the  door-post,  was 
tacked  the  notice,  written  out  in  Jack's  best 
hand,  as  Parson  Higginson  had  advised,  and 
Cornelius  felt  a  thrill  of  gladness  at  the  escape 
he  had  experienced  from  becoming  the  mean 
boy  he  now  knew  he  should  have  been,  had  he 
kept  the  five  dollar  gold  piece,  without  making 
an  effort  to  find  the  owner. 

The  first  customer  who  came  to  look,  admire, 
and  buy,  was  Mrs.  Prouty,  who  hurried  in,  drag- 
ging Arabella,  whining  and  pulling  back  every 
step,  trying  to  handle,  and  peer  into  everything 
that  struck  her  fancy. 

"Well,  I  declare!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Prouty, 
bringing  up  at  the  counter  and  gazing  expan- 
sively around,  "  if  this  don't  beat  all !  Why,  it 
really  does  look  something  like  a  shop." 

"  That's  what  we  are  going  to  make  it,"  said 


FAIRLY  UNDER    WAY.  61 

Jack,  drawing  himself  up,  while  Cornelius 
swelled  as  much  as  he  dared,  and  even  Rosy 
looked  important. 

"  Folks  said  you  were  fixing  up  the  old  red 
tool-house  into  a  shop,"  said  Mrs.  Prouty,  pick- 
ing up  one  corner  of  her  apron  to  fan  her  heated 
face,  thereby  giving  Arabella  a  delightful  chance 
of  escape.  "But  la!  I  thought  'twas  only  to 
amuse  yourselves  with.  Arry !  stop  picking  at 
those  berries." 

"Amuse  ourselves,"  cried  Jack  and  Cornelius 
together,  while  Rosy,  knowing  too  well  the 
powers  of  the  Prouty  baby,  ran  to  rescue  the 
blueberries  from  the  grasp  of  the  exploring  in- 
fant. "Why,  we  must  work  to  take  care  of 
Mamsie  and  Primrose." 

"Yes,  yes,  I  know,"  assented  Mrs.  Prouty, 
who  didn't  realize  at  all.  "  Well,  I  want  a  cake 
of  soap.  I'll  buy  something  for  good  luck  to 
you,  and  I  might  as  well  take  soap  as  anything," 
she  concluded. 

"  We  haven't  any  soap,"  said  Jack,  from  be- 
hind the  counter,  and  wondering  if  it  was  bad 
luck  to  fail  to  supply  one's  first  customer. 

"We  don't  keep  it,"  announced  Cornelius, 
back  of  Jack,  with  the  air  of  a  merchant  prince, 


62  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

and  as  if  soap  were  wholly  beneath  the  trade 
they  meant  to  work  up. 

"Not  keep  soap?"  repeated  Mrs.  Prouty  in 
astonishment.  "Who  ever  heard  of  a  shop 
without  soap  in  it,  pray  tell  ?  Arabella  !  " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AN  ENCOURAGING   ASPECT. 

\  RABELLA  still  kept  on  investigating  the 
depths  of  the  apple-bin,  to  the  imminent 
danger  of  falling  in  bodily.  Her  mother  deserted 
for  a  moment  the  soap  question,  and  rushed 
across  the  small  shop  to  unceremoniously  pick 
her  off  from  its  edge,  where  she  dangled,  vo- 
ciferating lustily. 

"  If  ever  I  see  your  like ! "  cried  Mrs.  Prouty 
in  a  vexed  way,  and  pulling  the  child's  pinafore 
straight.  "There,  behave  yourself,  do,  or  I 
won't  bring  you  again  —  well,  as  I  was  saying  " 
—  and  she  ambled  back  again  to  the  little  counter, 
"you  haven't  any  call  to  being  shop-keepers  if 
you  don't  keep  soap.  Why,  it's  the  first  thing 
any  one  thinks  of." 

Jack  instinctively  looked  across  at  Arabella's 
face,  who  as  soon  as  her  mother's  back  was 
turned,  had  gone  in  a  direct  line  for  the  apple- 
63 


64  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

bin,  while  he  took  up  the  slate,  and  said,  "  Thank 
you,  Mrs.  Prouty,  for  the  idea.  I'll  add  that  to 
our  stock." 

Cornelias,  who  had  been  vaguely  wondering 
if  Mrs.  Prouty  had  brought  any  money  with  her 
that  indicated  a  desire  on  her  part  to  be  suited 
so  far  as  to  drive  a  trade,  now  broke  in,  "  We've 
got  lots  of  other  things." 

"  Corny,"  said  Jack,  in  a  whisper  that  com- 
manded instant  attention,  "you  know  the  rule 
we  agreed  to,  that  we  would  never  urge  our 
wares,  but  let  people  see  for  themselves  what 
we've  got  ?  now  stick  to  it." 

"But  she's  different;  she  isn't  people,"  said 
Corny  back  again,  in  a  low  tone,  dreadfully  dis- 
comfited that  he  had  been  the  first  to  break  one 
of  the  new  rules. 

"  Oh !  I  s'pose  so,"  said  Mrs.  Prouty,  rolling 
her  large  eyes  placidly  in  all  directions,  "  but, 
you  see,  I  don't  want  anything  but  some  bar 
soap,  and  being  that  you  have  opened  shop,  I 
thought  that  I'd  trade  with  you  for  the  sake  of 
friendship.  Well,  I'll  go  in  and  set  with  your 
ma  a  spell,  I  guess.  Arabella ! " 

She  made  a  dart  at  the  offending  infant,  who, 
having  secured  a  fine  red  apple,  had  consumed 


AN  ENCOURAGING  ASPECT.  65 

two  thirds  of  it,  and  picking  her  up  as  one  would 
a  sack  of  meal,  she  waddled  out  of  the  shop, 
apple  and  all,  with  a  pleasant  good-morning. 

Corny  was  going  to  scream  out  to  her  to  come 
back  and  pay  for  the  apple,  but  Jack  wouldn't 
let  him. 

"Now,  if  that  isn't  mean,"  cried  Rosy,  her 
cheeks  flushing,  and  aching  to  add  her  voice  to 
have  the  debt  paid.  "  Everybody  will  eat  up 
our  things  that  way,  Jack,  and  suppose  we  are 
only  giving  a  party.  Do  let  us  lock  the  doors," 
she  cried,  anxiety  getting  the  better  of  her. 

"  You  small  goosie  ! "  cried  Jack,  laughing. 
"  What  would  be  the  use  of  our  trying  to  keep 
shop  at  all,  if  we  must  lock  our  doors  ?  Nobody 
would  come  at  all,  then.  No,  we  must  trust 
people,  and  once  in  a  while  get  an  apple  eaten 
up,  and  call  it  loss." 

"  I'm  going  to  charge  it  to  her,"  cried  Corny, 
suddenly.  "Then  I'll  have  a  chance  to  make 
out  one  bill ;  so,  there,  Jack." 

"  It  would  look  nice  on  paper,  wouldn't  it  ? " 
said  Jack  scornfully;  "Arabella  Prouty  to  Brim- 
mer Brothers  and  Company,  one  apple,  eaten, 
1  cent.  I  sh'd  like  to  know  who  would  be  the 
mean  one,  then ! " 


66  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  And  'twouldn't  do  any  good,  either,  to  send 
it,"  said  Corny,  pretending  not  to  see  Jack's 
face,  "  for  Mrs.  Prouty  wouldn't  pay  it." 

"  I'm  so  glad  she  didn't  see  the  doughnuts," 
breathed  Rosalie  gratefully.  "Oh!  how  nice 
that  Mamsie  covered  'em  with  that  clean  nap- 
kin." 

"It's  a  wonder  she  didn't  smell  them,"  said 
Jack.  "Well,  we  are  lucky.  Instead  of  be- 
moaning ourselves,  we  ought  to  thank  our  stars 
we  got  off  so  good.  Here  comes  a  customer." 

"  Good-morning,"  cried  little  Mrs.  Higginson, 
the  parson's  wife,  stepping  over  the  low  sill,  and 
giving  a  bonny  smile  to  each  of  the  firm,  "  I 
want  to  tell  you  that  the  Little  Red  Shop  is 
already  a  great  comfort  to  me." 

How  bright  she  was,  and  what  an  inspiration 
to  the  depressed  firm ;  and  how  business  bright- 
ened up  and  began  to  take  on  an  encouraging 
aspect  at  once!  Each  one  bustled  out  from 
behind  the  counter,  anxious  to  help  her,  and 
considering  themselves  well  paid  in  advance  by 
her  own  sweet  presence  among  them. 

"  I  have  company  coming  unexpectedly  to  tea 
to-night,"  she  was  saying,  "  and  I  cannot  stop  to 
make  any  cake.  I  am  so  thankful  that  I  can 


AN  ENCOURAGING  AHPECT.  67 

buy  some  of  Miss  Peaseley's.  Oh!  how  good 
they  are,"  she  exclaimed,  as  Rosy  ran  and  lifted 
the  clean  napkin. 

"Aren't  they?"  cried  Company,  with  luminous 
eyes,  while  Jack  hurried  off  for  the  paper  and 
string,  and  Cornelius  hung  around  and  wished 
that  there  was  something  that  he  could  do. 

"Don't  trouble  yourself  to  get  any  paper  or 
string,  Jack,"  said  the  parson's  wife.  "I  brought 
a  basket.  Here,  dear,  I  shall  want  all  you  have 
—  stay  —  you  ought  to  show  these  to  customers 
so  that  they  may  know  that  you  are  to  keep  them 
regularly.  These  may  remain  here  till  four 
o'clock;  then  if  one  of  you  boys  could  bring 
them  over "  —  She  looked  at  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  firm. 

"Oh!  let  me,"  cried  Corny.  "I  haven't 
done  anything  yet.  I'll  bring  them  over." 

"I  should  be  glad  to  have  you,"  said  Mrs. 
Higginson,  laughing.  "And  you  may  fill  my 
basket  with  apples,  for  I  see  you  have  some  very 
fine  ones  there." 

Both  boys  seized  the  basket  she  held  out,  and 
vying  with  each  other  to  find  the  best  specimens, 
soon  filled  it  to  the  brim,  and  snapped  on  the 
cover. 


68  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"  Now,  how  much  am  I  to  pay  you  ?  "  asked 
the  parson's  wife,  smiling  at  the  three  business- 
like faces,  and  taking  out  her  pocket-book. 

"There  were  just  a  dozen  apples"  said  Jack. 
"  They  are  a  cent  apiece,  but  ten  cents  a  dozen  ; 
and  the  cakes  are  twelve  cents  a  dozen." 

"And  that  is  just  twenty-two  cents,"  said  Mrs. 
Higginson,  laying  down  a  bright  new  quarter  on 
the  counter. 

"  We  haven't  any  change  yet,"  said  Jack,  "  but 
I'll  run  into  the  house  and  see  if  mother  has 
some,  if  you  can  please  wait." 

The  parson's  wife  bit  her  lips  so  that  the 
"  Never  mind,  I  do  not  want  any  change,"  that 
she  longed  to  say,  did  not  escape  them.  She 
would  not  lower  the  self-respect  of  these  young 
people  by  such  mistaken  kindness,  but  helping 
them  by  right  methods,  would  restrain  her  zeal 
in  that  direction,  and  make  it  the  servant  of 
wisdom.  So  she  chatted  pleasantly  with  the 
other  two,  gave  a  few  bits  of  advice  about  arti- 
cles to  keep  for  sale,  until  Jack  came  back  with 
a  beaming  face,  and  laid  three  pennies  in  her 
hand. 

"  We  are  very  much  obliged  to  you,"  he  said, 
all  his  heart  in  his  eyes. 


AN  ENCOURAGING  ASPECT.  69 

"  And  we  thank  you  for  coming,"  said  Rosalie, 
blushing  like  a  wild  rose. 

"  And  I  wish  you'd  come  every  day,"  declared 
Cornelius.  "  I  don't  mean  to  buy,"  he  added 
abruptly,  horror-struck  at  the  idea  that  his  mo- 
tive might  have  been  mistaken. 

"Of  course  you  don't,  and  I  shall  come  often," 
said  the  parson's  wife,  laughing  gayly,  "for  I 
find  that  the  Little  Red  Shop  is  a  pleasant  place 
to  visit.  Here  are  a  crowd  of  boys,  Jack,"  she 
added,  looking  down  the  street,  "perhaps  they 
are  to  be  customers.  Good-by,  and  good  luck !  " 

Two  boys  pushed  by  her  somewhat  rudely 
and  hurried  within  the  door.  "  Oh,  hulloa ! " 
said  one.  It  was  Ragged  Joe  who  lived  down 
by  the  mill,  and  he  wasn't  a  pleasant  boy  to  be 
intimate  with,  nor  very  choice  as  to  his  associ- 
ates. The  other  boy  was  not  known  by  Jack  or 
Cornelius. 

"Well,  now,"  said  Joesy,  swaggering  around 
the  shop,  and  making  a  mental  inventory  of  its 
contents,  "  we're  fixed  up  fine  here,  we  is.  That's 
good  ;  well,  now,  to  business.  I'll  take  my  five 
dollars,  if  you  please,  what  I  lost,  you  know." 
He  turned  up  suddenly  to  Jack,  and  looked  him 
squarely  in  the  face. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

TIME    FOR   ACTION. 

rpHE  biggest  boy  was  "Ragged  Joe,"  but 
the  four  or  five  others  now  pushing  into 
the  shop  were  nearly  as  big,  and  only  one 
degree  better  in  morals.  They  all  lived  down 
at  the  "  Four  Corners,"  in  a  lot  of  tumble-down 
shanties  that  the  selectmen  of  Cherryfield  threat- 
ened every  year  to  tear  down. 

As  this  crew  came  rushing  into  the  neat  little 
shop,  Rosy  gave  a  small  cry  of  terror  and  fled 
behind  the  counter.  Jack  turned  at  her  cry, 
while  Cornelius  advanced  sturdily  to  meet  them. 

"  I  should  like  my  money,"  said  Ragged  Joe, 
winking  to  the  rest  of  the  boys  and  impudently 
viewing  Cornelius.  "I  thought  I'd  just  call 
around  here  and  get  it."  He  pointed  with  his 
dirty  thumb  to  the  posted  slip  on  the  door-cas- 
ing. "Lost  it,  ye  know,  out  o'  me  trousers 
pocket." 

TO 


TIME  FOR  ACTION.  71 

With  that  one  of  the  boys  snickered  ;  Ragged 
Joe  turned  and  shook  his  fist  at  him. 

"Where  did  you  lose  it?"  asked  Corny  boldly, 
his  black  eyes  flashing. 

"  What  difference  does  it  make  to  ye  where  I 
lost  it,  you  young  whelp,  you!"  cried  Joey 
defiantly.  "I  lost  it;  that's  enough.  Hand  it 
over,  or  I'll  break  every  bone  in  your  body. 
Here,  you  fellows,  you  run  through  this  ere 
shop  and  see  if  there's  anything  to  your  mind, 
while  I  attend  to  this  chap  who's  got  my  money 
and  won't  give  it  up." 

In  a  second  a  boy  started,  as  if  by  a  precon- 
certed signal,  rushed  to  the  door,  locked  it,  and 
put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  coming  back  with  a 
grin.  Ragged  Joe  anointed  his  hands  with 
Nature's  provision  from  his  dirty  mouth,  and 
squared  up  to  Cornelius,  who  not  flinching,  was 
preparing  to  defend  himself  as  best  he  might. 

There  was  a  quick  leap  over  the  counter,  a 
dash  between  the  two  boys,  one  well-aimed  blow 
into  the  centre  of  things,  and  the  bully  was 
picking  himself  up  from  the  floor,  sputtering 
with  rage.  "  You  won't  do  that  again,  I'll  tell 
you.  Give  it  to  'em,  boys ;  pitch  in ! " 

And  then  all  the  occupants  of  the  shop  were 


72  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

in  one  wild  scuffle;  all  but  Company.  She, 
with  white  face  and  clasped  hands,  was  doing 
her  best  not  to  scream,  remembering  her 
mother's  words  —  "  In  any  danger,  control  your 
fear,  and  see  what  you  can  do  to  help  yourself 
or  others." 

A  little  click,  so  faint  that  none  but  strained, 
watching  ears  could  hear  it,  arrested  her  atten- 
tion. Ah !  now  Company  steals  out  softly  from 
behind  the  counter,  back  of  the  combatants,  who 
would  scarcely  have  noticed  the  approach  of  an 
army. 

Soft,  now,  little  Rosy,  you  have  your  oppor- 
tunity to  make  Company  a  valiant  member  of 
the  firm.  Ah !  you  have  it ;  your  fingers  have 
seized  the  precious  key  lying  where  it  dropped 
from  the  ragged  pocket  of  the  boy  now  tussling 
with  the  others ;  but  be  very  careful,  or  all  will 
yet  be  lost. 

But  Rosy  has  been  a  faithful  little  learner  of 
Mother  Brimmer's  precepts,  and  the  fingers  do 
not  tremble  that  fit  the  key  into  the  lock  and 
turn  it  rapidly.  None  too  soon ;  for  Jack,  de- 
spite his  strength  and  wit,  is  no  match  for  the 
tiger  fighting  of  the  "Four  Corner  boys,"  and 
between  his  defence  of  Cornelius  and  himself,  is 


TIME  FOR  ACTION.  73 

nearly  spent,  as  the  door  flies  open.  The  assail- 
ants turn  with  a  wild  yell,  and  they  all  rush  to 
the  spot,  and  with  Rosy  are  almost  precipitated 
into  the  arms  of  Parson  Higginson,  standing  on 
the  flat  door-stone. 

"I  came  just  in  time,  I  see,"  observed  the 
parson,  surveying  the  group.  "  No ;  you  needn't 
take  the  trouble  to  look  for  a  window  to  jump 
out  of,  my  boy."  This  to  Ragged  Joe,  who 
slunk  off  to  the  back  part  of  the  shop ;  "  I  know 
you,  you  see,  so  it  would  do  no  good  to  run.  I 
came  just  in  time,"  he  repeated. 

"  You  did  indeed,  sir,"  said  Jack,  wiping  the 
blood  from  his  face. 

"  I  do  so  wish  we  could  have  whipped  them," 
burst  forth  from  Cornelius,  who  by  reason  of 
Jack's  constant  vigilance,  had  had  the  time  to 
send  blows  that  hurt  no  one,  to  right  and  left 
blindly.  "May  we  try  it  again?  Oh!  do  let 
us,  sir." 

"By  no  means,"  said  the  parson.  "Now,  my 
fine  boys,  stand  out  here  where  I  can  get  a  good 
look  at  you." 

It  was  impossible  not  to  obey  him.  He  was 
no  more  like  the  amiable  man  who  stood  up  in 
the  pulpit  and  preached  every  Sunday  with  a 


74  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

gentle  voice,  the  duty  of  bearing  love  and  mercy 
to  one's  neighbor,  than  a  hurricane  is  like  a 
south  breeze.  His  command  rang  through  the 
small  shop,  with  ringing  force,  bringing  the  mis- 
erable offenders  to  the  line  his  imperious  finger 
indicated  they  should  stand  on. 

"  A  goodly  crowd  !  "  he  remarked ;  "  I  know 
every  one  of  you  well.  Now,  what  are  you  in 
this  shop  for,  assaulting  the  proprietors,  may  I 
be  permitted  to  inquire  ?  " 

The  crew  all  looked  helplessly  at  Ragged  Joe. 
He  regarded  the  crack  in  the  floor  that  his  bare 
toes  touched,  with  a  stolid  gaze ;  but  unable  to 
bear  the  piercing  gaze  he  felt,  rather  than  saw, 
was  on  him,  he  shifted  uneasily,  finally  looked 
up  and  blurted  out  with  an  attempt  at  bragga- 
docio, "I  came  to  get  my  money." 

"Your  money?"  repeated  Parson  Higginson;- 
"I  was  not  aware  that  you  ever  had  any.  How 
much  was  it ;  and  how  did  Jack  and  Cornelius 
Brimmer  get  it  ?  " 

Driven  into  a  corner,  Joesy  cried  in  despera- 
tion, "I  lost  that  ere  five  dollar  gold  piece 
that  Cornelius  Brimmer's  found.  It's  mine,  and 
I  come  after  it,  an'  he  wouldn't  give  it  up,  so  I 
had  to  fight  a  bit."  With  that,  he  tried  to 


TIME  FOB  ACTION.  75 

slip  out  between  the  minister's  arm  and  the 
door. 

"  Not  so  fast,  not  so  fast,  Joe,"  said  the  par- 
son, gently  pushing  him  back  into  the  line  again, 
"  you  may  go  by  and  by,  but  with  proper  escort. 
Cornelius,  will  you  do  an  errand  for  me?" 

The  boy  dashed  out  to  the  flagstone  step, 
saying,  "Where,  sir?" 

"  To  Constable  Plumtree's,"  said  Parson  Hig- 
ginson,  "  and  tell  him  that  there  are  seven  boys 
whom  he  must  take  care  of,  waiting  for  him 
here.  Hurry,  my  lad !  " 

"  I  suppose  they  will  be  shut  up?"  said  Cor- 
nelius,  hesitating  a  bit. 

"  Undoubtedly ;  still,  we  will  leave  all  that  to 
him,  as  it  is  not  our  matter  "  — 

"I'd  much  rather  fight  it  out,"  said  Corny, 
turning  a  bright  eye  up  to  the  minister  to  see  if 
there  were  any  chance  of  the  proposition  meet- 
ing favor. 

"  No,  no,"  said  the  parson,  laughing ;  "  fight- 
ing is  not  in  our  line.  The  constable  is  the  one 
to  attend  to  these  young  fellows.  Go  along  as 
you  are  bid,  Cornelius." 

"I  hope  they  will  not  be  shut  up  long,  sir," 
ventured  Company,  clasping  her  hands.  To 


76  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

Rosalie  nothing  seemed  so  very  dreadful  as  the 
loss  of  the  sunshine  and  freedom.  "Perhaps 
they  never  will  do  it  again,"  she  added,  with  a 
pitiful  glance  at  the  seven. 

"  I  do  not  intend  that  they  shall  in  this  town, 
at  least,"  said  the  minister.  «'  Now,  while  Cor- 
nelius is  away,  I  will  tell  you  all  that  the  owner 
of  the  five  dollar  gold  piece  is  found.  I  came 
over  to  give  you  this  information.  Lucky  it 
was  that  I  started  at  once  as  soon  as  I  heard 
it." 

"Oh!  who? "cried  Jack  and  Rosy  together. 
"  Who  lost  the  gold  piece  ?  What  a  pity  that 
Corny  could  not  have  heard  first,"  added  Com- 
pany. 

"If  Cornelius  had  staid  to  hear,  Jack  must 
have  gone,"  said  the  parson,  looking  down  at 
her  with  a  kind  smile ;  "  and  Jack,  your  brave 
defender,  is  hardly  in  a  condition  for  further 
effort  just  now." 

Thereupon  Rosy  began  to  be  anxious  at  once 
about  Jack's  hurts,  forgetting  all  about  the  gold 
piece. 

"  Tell  us  who  it  was  that  lost  it,  please,  sir," 
begged  Jack. 

"  You  never  could  guess,"  exclaimed  the  par- 


TIME  FOR  ACTION.  77 

son  abruptly.  "So  I  will  tell  you  at  otice.  It 
is  Miss  Clorinda  Peaseley ! " 

"Miss  Peaseley!"  almost  screamed  the  two 
Brimmers.  "Why  didn't  she  tell  us?"  de- 
manded Jack. 

"  You  forget ;  she  didn't  know  you  had  found 
a  gold  piece  till  some  one  told  her  that  it  was 
posted  up  here  on  your  shop-door,"  said  Mr. 
Iligginson ;  "  then  she  came  over  to  me,  and 
told  me  the  whole  story,  and  what  she  wanted 
done  with  the  five  dollars.  It  seems  that  a  day 
in  last  March,"  the  parson  leaned  against  the 
door-post  comfortably,  and  one  eye  on  his  pris- 
oners, went  on  rapidly,  "Miss  Peaseley  felt 
anxious  about  the  Widow  Brown,  and  fearful 
that  she  needed  some  money,  put  a  gold  piece 
with  some  other  comforts  into  a  little  basket, 
and  went  over  there.  *  I  put  the  gold  piece  in 
the  bottom  of  the  basket,'  she  said,  'that  the 
widow  might  find  it  as  a  surprise ;  for  it  isn't 
pleasant  to  have  money  given  to  you  as  if  you 
were  a  pauper.'  Miss  Peaseley  says  it  was  all 
snow  and  slush  where  the  widow's  little  path 
ran,  and  so  she  went  across  the  end  of  the  pig- 
yard. 

"When  she  went  into  the  house,  she  found 


78  THE  LITTLE  EED  SHOP. 

Mrs.  Brown  sick  in  bed,  so  the  giver  had  to  un- 
pack her  basket  herself.  To  her  dismay,  when 
the  bottom  was  reached,  there  was  no  gold 
piece.  Instead  there  was  a  treacherous  hole. 
All  searching  every  step  of  the  way  she  had 
come,  did  no  good.  The  pigs  had  rooted  over 
their  quarters,  burying  the  five  dollar  gold 
piece,  as  it  is  now  proved,  too  deep  for  keen 
eyes  to  trace  it. 

"  Miss  Peaseley  always  supposed  she  had  lost 
it  in  the  brook  that  runs  over  the  Peter  lot; 
that,  you  know,  would  be  worse  than  the  hay- 
mow where  the  needle  was  lost.  Now  here  is 
the  best  of  the  story.  She  has  given  the  five 
dollars  as  a  present  to  Cornelius,  with  her  best 
respects.  Here  he  comes  J " 


CHAPTER  X. 

A   GOOD   DAY. 

/CONSTABLE  PLUMTREE  arrived  in  state 
^-^  under  Cornelius'  guidance,  and  escorted 
with  much  pomposity,  his  several  prisoners  off 
to  durance  vile,  Rosy  following  quite  a  little 
distance  to  beg  that  he  would  not  really  and 
truly  lock  them  up. 

"Don't  fear,  Miss,"  said  the  constable,  nod- 
ding back  to  her,  "  that  they'll  get  more'n  their 
deserts.  They're  wanted  for  something  beside 
this  'ere  case;  leastways  them  two,"  pointing 
with  his  thumb  at  Patsy  and  Ragged  Joe.  "Do 
you  know  anythin'  where  Mis'  Bagley's  six  silver 
spoons  went  to  ?  She  hain't  set  an  eye  on  'em 
since  you  stopped  there  one  day;  I  don't  suppose 
you've  seen  'em  now  ?  "  Mr.  Plumtree  rolled 
his  blue  eyes  over  the  two  in  a  most  innocent 
way. 

"We've  never  seen  'em,  neither  of  us," 
79 


Go  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

declared  Patsy,  preparing  to  say  something 
stronger.  Ragged  Joe  hung  his  head  in  silence. 

"S'pose  not,  s'pose  not,"  said  the  constable 
coolly.  "  Well,  come  along ;  you'll  have  plenty 
of  chances  to  say  so  before  a  big  company. 
Good-by ! "  and  he  disappeared  with  his  charge. 

And  then  the  presentation  took  place.  Cor- 
nelius was  the  happy  possessor  of  the  five  dollar 
gold  piece  sent  to  him  by  its  owner  under  the 
most  flattering  circumstances. 

But  there  was  no  time  for  making  a  holiday 
orer  it.  Mother  Brimmer,  who  had  been  emp- 
tying a  pair  of  pillows  into  new  casings,  in  the 
garret,  had  heard  nothing  of  all  this  commotion, 
and  the  children  now  hurried  in  and  ran  to  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  to  tell  her  the  fine  news.  Mr. 
Higginson  staid  behind  to  keep  shop.  When 
they  ran  out  again,  the  shop  was  nearly  full  of 
customers,  who  had  met  on  the  way,  and  now 
made  things  quite  lively. 

"As  I  am  a  silent  partner,"  said  the  parson, 
"  I  don't  see  but  that  I  better  take  a  turn  at  do- 
ing up  bundles;"  so  back  of  the  counter  he  went, 
tying  up  things  as  briskly  as  if  he  had  never 
any  leaning  toward  the  ministry,  but  had  been  a 
clerk  all  his  life. 


A   GOOD  DAY.  81 

"  I'll  take  the  doughnuts,  Jack,  when  I  return 
home,"  he  said,  "  as  I  shall  go  directly  back. 
Miss  Peaseley's  doughnuts  are  a  prize  that  any 
one  would  be  willing  to  carry,"  he  remarked 
carelessly  to  the  company,  who  were  using  their 
eyes  to  the  utmost  in  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  shop's  capacity  for  becoming  a  centre  of 
trade. 

"  Miss  Peaseley's  doughnuts !  "  exclaimed  a 
stout  man,  reflectively  chewing  a  straw,  while 
he  made  mental  comments,  "  did  you  say  Miss 
Peaseley's?"  he  asked,  with  the  air  of  a  man 
who  expected  to  be  informed  he  had  made  a 
mistake. 

"  Miss  Clorinda  Peaseley  made  those  dough- 
nuts and  placed  them  here  to  be  sold  for  her," 
said  the  parson,  pointing  to  the  fragrant  cakes 
in  the  basket  under  the  clean  napkins,  "  and 
just  as  fast  as  the  firm  sell  them,  I  doubt  not 
she  will  put  more  here."  Then  he  fell  to  ac- 
complishing a  neat  knot,  thus  saving  himself 
from  the  disgrace  of  a  laugh  at  the  expressions 
on  the  faces  before  him. 

The  thing  took  immensely.  Not  to  buy  cakes 
made  by  Miss  Peaseley,  the  rich  woman  of 
Cherryfield,  and  exposed  for  sale  by  her,  was 


82  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

to  make  no  social  claims  whatever,  and  Cor- 
nelius was  made  happy  by  being  obliged  to  re- 
cord a  string  of  names  of  people  who  would 
experience  dreadful  disappointment  if  denied 
the  purchase  of  a  portion  of  the  next  instalment. 

"I  think  I  will  see  that  Miss  Peaseley  will 
make  those  cakes,"  said  the  parson,  buttoning 
up  the  list  in  his  coat  pocket.  "  Now  do  up  the 
doughnuts,  Rosy,  and  I  will  hurry  to  put  them  in 
Mrs.  Higglnson's  hands." 

Clothes-lines,  clothes-pins,  soap,  stove  black- 
ing, common  pins,  needles,  Ironing  holders  (those 
Rosalie  was  to  make),  pencils,  thread,  baking 
powder,  starch,  shoe-blacking  and  brushes,  floor 
brushes,  pails.  These  were  some  of  the  things 
that  people  inquired  for,  and  Jack  made  a  note 
of  them,  in  order  when  possible  to  add  them  to 
the  stock  in  trade. 

It  was  a  good  day.  Seven  dollars  and  twenty- 
one  cents  had  been  brought  into  the  business ; 
and  now  that  the  minister  had  set  his  approval 
on  the  whole  thing  in  such  a  conspicuous  man- 
ner, the  Little  Red  Shop  had  the  finest  of  all 
outlooks  for  the  future. 

But  it  was  hard  work;  there  is  no  denying 
that.  And  many  a  day  Jack  longed  so  for  re- 


A   GOOD  DAT.  83 

lease  from  the  steady  grind  of  the  thing,  that 
nothing  but  the  thought  of  mother  and  the  baby 
kept  him  constant  to  the  demands  made  upon 
him ;  while  Cornelius  grew  restive  to  such  a 
degree  under  the  tread-mill  life  to  which  he 
found  himself  now  bound,  that  nothing  but  the 
disgrace  of  backing  out  of  an  honorable  bargain, 
kept  him  from  rushing  off  on  occasional  holi- 
days with  the  other  boys.  Rosy  alone,  of  all 
the  firm,  seemed  perfectly  happy  and  contented, 
singing  at  her  work,  keeping  every  bit  of  the 
shop's  interior  as  neat  as  wax,  tending  her 
flowers,  and  when  there  were  no  customers  to 
wait  on,  sewing  on  her  ironing  holders,  for  which 
she  had  now  stirred  up  quite  a  market. 

"  But  she's  a  girl,"  said  Corny  scornfully,  one 
night  to  himself,  aching  in  each  separate  and 
distinct  joint,  and  feeling  like  an  old  man  from 
close  confinement  and  lack  of  play,  "and  you 
can't  please  one  better  than  to  let  her  mope  and 
potter  around.  Oh !  if  Jack  and  I  could  have 
one  day." 

At  last,  on  the  third  week,  Mother  Brimmer 
came  to  the  rescue.  "Boys,  why  don't  you 
take  a  day  off  from  the  shop  each  week? 
You'd  work  better  to  pay  for  it." 


84  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

Jack  and  Cornelius  stared  at  her. 

"  Why,  Mamsie,"  cried  Rosalie,  dropping  her 
holder  in  astonishment. 

"  It's  just  this,"  said  Mother  Brimmer  in  her 
most  practical  fashion,  "you  are  hoys."  Both 
straightened  up  at  that.  "I  know,  dears,  you 
are  men  in  ambition,  bless  you,  and  you  realize 
your  ambitions,  too;  but  you  and  I  must  not 
forget  that  you  are  growing  boys.  Now  if  we 
forestall  Nature  and  try  to  make  men  of  you 
before  your  time,  what  results?" 

No  answer. 

"You  know,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  answer- 
ing her  own  question,  "feeble,  broken-down 
men  whose  work  in  life  is  all  done  early.  Do 
you  want  to  give  up  all  that  life  promises 
you,  for  thoughtlessness  and  want  of  care 
now?" 

"No  indeed,  mother,"  declared  Jack  posi- 
tively. 

"  Faugh !  I'm  not  going  to  be  a  broken-down 
man,"  cried  Cornelius  in  great  disdain.  "  I  am 
as  strong  as  an  ox.  Why,  look  at  my  arm, 
mother."  He  held  up  that  sturdy  member  and 
shook  his  brown  crop  of  hair,  repeating,  u  Tm 
not  going  to  be  a  broken-down  man." 


A   GOOD  DAT.  86 

_  "  You  don't  know,  Corny,"  said  Mother  Brim- 
mer earnestly,  "  health  is  one  of  the  best  gifts 
that  the  dear  Father  bestows.  It  is  our  duty 
to  care  for  it,  and  to  improve  it.  Now  you  can 
do  that  by  leaving  the  business  one  day  each 
week,  and  completely  forgetting  it,  have  a  royal 
play  spell  with  the  other  boys." 

"  'Tisn't  any  fun  playing  without  Jack,"  said 
Cornelius,  discontentedly  dragging  the  toe  of 
his  shoe  back  and  forth  on  the  floor. 

"  That  brings  me  to  what  I  was  about  to  pro- 
pose," said  Mother  Brimmer,  "that  you  and 
Jack  take  your  holiday  together." 

"  Mother ! "  they  all  exclaimed  at  once ;  Rosy 
opening  wide  eyes  at  the  thought  that  she  was 
to  be  left  alone  in  the  shop. 

"  The  day  that  you  are  both  away,  I  will  stay 
here,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  looking  around  the 
small  centre  of  trade  for  that  district.  "  It  will 
be  good  for  me  to  turn  around  my  work  too ; 
and  after  you  select  your  day,  I  will  make  my 
plans,  and  everything  will  move  along  beauti- 
fully." 

She  leaned  back  in  the  chair  and  looked  at 
them  all. 

"Mother,"  exclaimed  Jack,  flying  across  the 


86  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

shop,  and  throwing  his  arms  around  her,  "  are 
you  sure  this  won't  make  things  harder  for  you?" 

"  We  wanted  to  make  it  easier  for  you,"  said 
Cornelius,  and  wishing  that  he  didn't  want  so 
very  much  to  play  with  the  boys,  "  and  to  take 
care  of  you." 

"  And  the  baby,"  added  Rosalie,  not  willing 
that  Primrose  should  be  left  out. 

"  Of  course,  and  the  baby,"  said  Jack,  holding 
the  mother  close. 

"I  shall  find  it  much  easier  to  'keep  shop* 
one  day  in  the  week,  than  to  see  these  cheeks 
growing  white,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  pinching 
Jack's  cheek  and  trying  to  do  the  same  thing 
by  Cornelius.  "  No,  no,  boys,"  she  added  more 
soberly,  "there  is  no  way  to  get  rid  of  the 
truth  that  it  ought  to  be  done,  because  it  is 
right." 

After  that  the  little  shop  was  very  still. 


CHAPTER  XT. 

NEW   DEVELOPMENTS. 

rriHE  weekly  holiday  was  now  an  established 
-*•  thing,  and  much  dear  Mother  Brimmer 
rejoiced  thereat.  It  was  good  to  see  Jack's 
ruddy  cheek,  and  Cornelius'  length  of  limb  that 
proclaimed  itself  below  the  well-worn  knicker- 
bockers and  jacket  sleeves.  Rosy  hummed  de- 
lightedly at  her  task  when  thinking  of  it,  until 
one  day  she  was  sent  off  unceremoniously  to 
play  with  the  neighbors'  girls. 

The  "next  neighbor"  living  a  good  half-mile 
distant,  it  required  a  run  on  brisk  little  feet  to  ac- 
complish the  visit  and  get  home  again  to  supper. 

"  Oh !  I  don't  want  to  go,  mother,"  begged 
Company  in  dismay,  and  looking  up  from  her 
holder  of  red  flannel  with  cheeks  as  bright, 
"I  was  going  to  make  Miss  Tisbett's  holder 
next." 

"And  then  Grandma  Bacon's,  I  suppose,"  said 
87 


NEW  DEVELOPMENTS.  89 

"Come  and  get  my  sunbonnet  and  take  me 
to  play  with  Neddy  Bruce,"  repeated  the  baby 
in  gleeful  tones. 

"  Go,  Rosalie,"  said  her  mother. 

Rosy  threw  down  her  holder  and  jumped  to 
her  feet;  the  weight  of  years  seemed  to  drop 
from  her,  making  her  a  child  once  more. 

"  Come,"  commanded  Roly  Poly,  seizing  her 
hand. 

Rosy  danced  along,  just  about  as  old  as  the 
baby  who  clung  to  her,  shouting  with  delight, 
and  Mother  Brimmer  saw  them  no  more. 

And  before  any  one  quite  knew  it,  the  quar- 
ter-day came  when  the  Little  Red  Shop  could 
fairly  be  said  to  be  established  on  a  firm  basis. 

"Jack,"  said  Mr.  Corbin,  president  of  the 
Cherryfield  Savings  Bank,  as  the  senior  partner 
of  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company  was  coming 
out  after  making  a  deposit,  "  you  are  really  go- 
ing to  be  a  moneyed  man  some  day,  aren't  you?" 

"  I  don't  know,  sir,"  said  Jack,  quite  awed  at 
being  addressed  by  the  president  himself,  "  I'm 
afraid  not.  But  we  are  going  to  take  care  of 
mother  and  the  baby." 

"Come  in  here."  President  Corbin  motioned 
to  his  private  office,  and  as  in  a  dream  Jack  soon 


90  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

found  himself  sitting  on  the  extreme  edge  of  a 
big  luxurious  chair,  the  door  shutting  out  all  in- 
truding visitors,  while  the  keen,  searching  eyes 
of  the  great  man  were  reading  him  through  and 
through. 

At  last  the  president  withdrew  his  gaze. 

"It  is  much  easier  to  make  money  than  to 
save  it,  Jack,"  at  last  he  said  slowly. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  the  boy,  thinking  of  the  coal 
bill,  and  the  baby's  shoes,  and  the  flour  barrel 
to  keep  filled. 

"  It  is  something  to  get  the  pennies  together 
—  hey,  Jack?"  queried  the  great  man  sharply. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  again  replied  Jack,  not  daring  to 
emerge  from  the  shelter  of  the  monosyllable. 

"Do  you  mind  telling  me  how  you  do  it?" 
was  the  president's  next  question. 

Jack  said  "No,  sir,"  promptly,  then  hesitated, 
stammered  a  bit,  and  finally  stopped. 

"Don't  be  afraid,"  said  Mr.  Corbin  encour- 
agingly, "just  begin  again." 

"It  is  such  a  small  business,"  said  Jack,  blush- 
ing up  to  his  brown  ears,  "  that  you  won't  think 
it's  much." 

"  I  was  once  a  boy  like  you,  Jack,"  said  the 
president  with  a  smile;  then  his  face  grew 


NEW  DEVELOPMENTS.  91 

grave,  he  put  down  his  foot  which  had  care- 
lessly crossed  the  other,  to  the  floor,  leaned 
slightly  forward  in  his  revolving  chair  and  bent 
a  searching  glance  upon  the  lad.  "My  father 
died  when  I  was  a  dozen  years  old.  I  was  the 
oldest  of  five  children." 

"  Five  children !  "  repeated  Jack,  feeling  one 
degree  less  like  a  grandfather.  "  Why,  there 
are  only  four  of  us." 

"Four  others  looked  to  me,"  repeated  Mr. 
Corbin  distinctly,  "as  the  man  of  the  house. 
There  were  not  many  play-days  that  came  in 
my  way  after  I  was  twelve  years  old,  I  can  tell 
you,  Jack." 

"  What  did  you  do?"  asked  the  boy,  suddenly 
forgetting  the  bank  president  in  his  eagerness 
to  get  at  the  facts. 

UI  sold  tin,  collected  rags  and  old  papers," 
said  the  president,  as  proudly  as  though  describ- 
ing a  day  "  on  change."  "  And  I  made  money, 
too,  Jack.  I  had  to,  for  there  was  my  mother 
and  the  four  little  ones  back  of  me,  waiting  for 
bread/' 

Jack's  eyes  glistened. 

"  And  nothing  but  faith  in  my  mother  made 
me  hold  on." 


92  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

The  boy  held  his  breath,  hang-on  every 
word. 

"  As  for  play,"  continued  the  bank  president, 
"  I  didn't  know  what  it  was,  after  I  started  in 
business." 

"Did  you  ever  want  to?"  Jack  threw  out 
the  question  breathlessly,  then  blushed  at  his 
temerity. 

"Want  to?"  Mr.  Corbin  leaned  back  in  his 
chair  and  viewed  his  questioner.  "Well,  my 
boy,  I  have  seen  the  time  when  I  thought  I 
should  be  obliged  to  tie  myself  up  to  keep  from 
running  away  from  my  work.  Think  of  the 
foot-ball  games,  and  the  fishing  and  coasting ! " 

Now  the  president's  eyes  glistened.  He  was 
astonished  to  feel  himself  thrill  as  he  could  not 
remember  for  forty  odd  years  —  just  by  talk- 
ing over  his  old  experiences  with  this  country 
lad. 

"  I  am  so  glad  ! "  Jack  never  knew  how  he 
came  to  say  it ;  it  was  out  in  a  burst  before  he 
was  aware  of  it  himself,  and  then  he  immedi- 
ately lost  all  fear,  and  confessed  that  he  hi  ad 
carried  in  his  heart  just  such  longings  for  many 
weeks  till  he  had  felt  disgraced,  and  his  mother 
had  come  to  the  rescue  and  insisted  on  the 


NEW  DEVELOPMENTS.  93 

weekly  holiday.  But  the  feeling  of  disgrace 
had  staid  with  him  because  he  had  wanted  to 
desert  his  work  for  play. 

The  bank  president  glanced  up  at  the  marble 
clock  on  the  office  mantel.  In  an  hour  a  meet- 
ing of  directors  would  be  held  in  the  room ;  the 
time  intervening  he  had  intended  to  spend  in 
trying  a  new  pair  of  horses  purchased  the  day 
before.  But  looking  into  the  boy's  eyes,  he 
concluded  that  the  dashing  turnout  might  stay 
in  the  stable,  while  "  Who  knows  but  Itielp  to 
make  a  future  bank  president,"  he  said  to  him- 
self. 

The  directors  coming  in  at  eleven  met  on  the 
threshold  a  tall,  ruddy-cheeked  boy,  who  made 
way  respectfully  for  them  to  pass  in,  and  whose 
keen  dark  eyes  haunted  the  memory  of  more 
than  one  of  them. 

Jack  dashed  along  the  thoroughfare,  a  new 
boy.  He  even  pinched  himself  to  make  sure  that 
it  was  really  Jack  Brimmer  who  had  been  talk- 
ing for  an  hour  with  President  Corbin,  straighten- 
ing up  as  he  reached  The  Little  Red  Shop,  at 
the  remembrance  of  the  last  words,  "Come  to 
me  whenever  you  find  it  hard  to  hold  on  ! " 

Mother  looked  up  with  a  smile,  opened  her 


94  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

mouth  to  speak,  but  thought  better  of  it,  and 
folded  her  lips  tightly  together. 

"  I'm  sorry  to  have  been  gone  so  long,"  cried 
Jack,  with  a  bright  flash  of  his  eyes  on  her,  and 
rushing  through  the  kitchen.  "  Corny  is  in  the 
shop,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  No ;  he  went  over  to  Deacon  Hubbard's 
after  the  potatoes." 

Jack,  half-way  to  the  shop,  turned  back  and 
nodded  "  All  right,"  and,  hurrying  in,  plunged 
into  tKe  labors  that  his  hour  at  the  bank  had 
delayed. 

"  Corny  went  ever  so  long  ago,"  observed 
Rosy  placidly,  patting  the  green  leaves  of  her 
plate-gardens  with  a  wet  cloth  to  make  them 
shine.  "  He  said  he'd  be  back  in  half  an  hour." 

"  He's  been  hindered  at  the  Deacon's,  I  ex- 
pect," said  Jack,  moving  the  sugar  barrel  to 
make  more  room,  into  another  corner. 

"Mrs.  Hine  was  in  here  just  after  you  had 
gone  away,"  said  Rosy,  bestowing  a  loving  dab 
on  an  ivy  leaf,  "and  she  asked  for  macca  — 
something,  and  cloves;  yes,  I  am  sure  it  was 
cloves,  because  she  said  she  wanted  to  put  them 
into  mince  pies." 

"People   don't   put   cloves   into  mince  pies, 


NEW  DEVELOPMENTS.  05 

Rosy,"  corrected  Jack  in  the  midst  of  the  racket 
he  was  making  with  the  barrel. 

"  I  suppose  she  was  going  to  pound  them  up," 
said  Rosalie ;  "  there,  see  how  they  shine,  Jack ! " 
She  turned  a  glowing  face  around  from  her 
vines  and  buds.  "I  am  going  to  sell  them, 
Jack."  Notwithstanding  the  joy  with  which 
she  made  this  announcement  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  her  lip  quivered,  and  she  touched  the  tips 
of  the  leaves  with  a  loving  little  finger,  as  if  she 
would  hold  to  them  always. 

"  Sell  them ! "  cried  Jack,  turning  away  from 
the  barrel,  "why,  who  wants  to  buy  flowers? 
They  can  get  plenty  in  the  woods." 

"  But  these  are  growing,"  -said  Rosy,  nodding 
to  them.  "  And  Mrs.  Hammond  wants  to  buy 
two  of  them,  and  she  says,  Jack,  that  she  will 
get  a  flower-man  in  the  city  to  take  the  rest, 
and  if  I  will  start  some  more,  she  does  not  be- 
lieve but  he  will  take  them  all." 

Jack  stood  watching  her.  Like  a  flash  it  came 
to  him,  the  flowers  had  waked  up  a  new  industry. 

"  Rosy,"  he  said  gravely,  "  you  will  beat  us 
boys  completely,"  for  he  knew  enough  to  reckon 
that  fancy  prices  for  flowers  to  suit  the  whim  of 
long  purses,  would  be  a  greater  income  than  the 


96  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

few  pennies  eked  out  in  the  dull  routine  of  a 
general  trade  such  as  they  could  carry  on  in  The 
Little  Red  Shop. 

But  Rosy  didn't  think  so ;  and  opening  her 
eyes  wide  at  the  thought  of  even  equaling  the 
boys,  much  less  surpassing  them,  she  clambered 
down  from  the  old  chair  where  she  had  been 
standing  to  tend  her  gardens,  and  ran  bac'c  of 
the  counter  to  consult  a  memorandum  she  had 
made  in  the  senior  partner's  absence. 

"  Yes,  it  is  macca;  that  first  part  is  right,"  she 
declared,  spelling  out  the  syllables,  "  but  I  don't 
know  what  the  rest  is,  although  I  asked  her  over 
twice.  What  can  it  be,  Jack?" 

Jack  didn't  know,  so  Rosy  ran  in  to  ask 
mother,  because  if  it  was  anything  that  the  shop 
should  contain,  Jack  could  send  for  it  on  the 
morrow.  Every  Wednesday,  nowadays,  the 
expressman,  Jacob  Pilger,  got  things  for  which 
there  was  a  demand  in  the  city,  for  the  firm. 
And  Company,  running  along  under  the  apple- 
trees  between  The  Little  Red  Shop  and  the 
house,  reproachfully  mourned  over  her  stupidity 
that  had  made  her  neglect  asking  Mrs.  Ham- 
mond to  write  the  desired  name  of  the  article 
down  for  Jack  to  see. 


NEW  DEVELOPMENTS.  97 

"  H\A-loa  !  "  A  man  out  in  a  wagon  pulled 
up  suddenly  to  the  poplars  outside  the  gate. 
"Where's  your  biggest  brother?"  he  called 
gruffly. 

"  Don't  be  frightened,  Rosy."  Cornelius'  face, 
white  as  a  sheet,  despite  its  numerous  freckles, 
loomed  up  above  the  side  of  the  wagon,  where 
Rosy  could  see  he  had  been  lying  down.  "  Come 
here!" 

Company  ran  out  to  the  gate,  her  small  heart 
palpitating  with  fear,  and  clasping  her  hands  as 
she  ran. 

"  I've  been  pitched  into,"  said  Corny,  with  an 
effort,  holding  his  head  up  enough  to  look  at  her. 

"An*  mauled,"  said  the  farmer,  afraid  some- 
thing would  be  left  out ;  "  I  found  him  down  by 
Deacon  Hubbard's  woods." 

"The  Corner  boys,"  said  Corny,  feeling  faint, 
and  lying  down  again.  "  Run  and  bring  Jack, 
Rosy,  but  don't  you  tell  mother  I" 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A    SUCCESS. 

.  BRIGHAM  looked  Corny  all  over. 
"You  haven't   a  single   hurt,   my  man, 
only  this  ankle  sprain." 

"  That's  where  I  fell  over  Deacon  Hubbard's 
stone  wall,  running  away  from  the  Cornerites," 
said  Corny,  "but  it  isn't  as  bad  as  the  old  eggs 
they  pelted  me  with,"  he  added  with  a  wry  face. 

"  They're  a  bad  lot,"  said  the  doctor.  "  Not 
the  eggs,  but  the  boys,  and  somebody  is  going 
to  walk  down  there  and  attend  to  things  at  the 
Corners,  or  I'll  do  it  myself." 

"Mr.  Plumtree's  doing  it,"  said  Rosy,  and 
then  the  story  all  came  out  about  Patsy  Denny 
and  Ragged  Joe,  and  the  assault  in  the  little 
shop. 

"  You're  a  brave  couple  of  boys  to  hold  out 
against  such  a  crew,"  said  the  doctor,  "  it  would 
take  a  good  deal  of  pluck  "  — 
98 


A   SUCCESS.  99 

"  Oh !  we  couldn't  have  done  it  if  it  hadn't 
been  for  Company,"  cried  Cornelius,  popping 
up  his  head  from  the  old  hair  cloth  sofa. 

"  Easy  there,  my  boy,"  said  the  doctor,  "  till 
this  leg  of  yours  is  fixed." 

Corny  made  a  grimace  and  sank  back  again, 
while  giving  out  the  rest  of  the  story.  "  Com- 
pany got  the  key  when  it  fell  out  of  Jim  Coan's 
pocket,  and  went  and  unlocked  the  door.  If  it 
hadn't  been  for  that,  we  should  all  have  been 
whipped." 

Dr.  Brigham  turned  around  from  his  bandage 
and  liniments,  to  bestow  a  smile  on  Company, 
whose  round  little  face  flushed  all  over. 

"  I  don't  see  but  you're  a  pretty  strong  busi- 
ness firm,"  he  said,  going  back  to  his  work 
again. 

"I  didn't  like  her  to  be  in  the  firm  at  first," 
confessed  Corny,  "  because  she  is  a  girl,  but  she 
did  most  as  good  as  a  boy,  so  I  like  it  now." 

Dr.  Brigham  laughed  heartily,  Jack  and 
Mother  Brimmer,  who  had  stepped  out  of  the 
room  for  a  mome»t,  now  popped  in  their  heads 
in  astonishment  at  the  sounds  of  hilarity. 

"I  am  finding  my  patient  very  amusing," 
said  the  doctor,  tucking  his  bottles  and  ban- 


100  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

dages  away  in  his  case.  "  He  won't  lie  here 
many  days,  I  can  assure  you,  Mrs.  Brimmer." 

"I  hope  not,  sir,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  try- 
ing to  be  cheerful. 

"Indeed  I  won't,"  exclaimed  Corny,  kicking 
the  well  leg  up  in  the  air. 

"If  you  keep  still,  you'll  get  up  all  the  sooner," 
warned  the  doctor,  snapping  the  case  to,  and 
bestowing  his  most  professional  air  on  the 
patient.  "  Remember,  now." 

"  When  I  am  a  man,  I'm  going  to  be  a  doctor," 
observed  Corny  irrelevantly,  and  giving  a  final 
wave  to  his  leg,  "it  must  be  such  fun  to  ride 
around  and  dose  folks,  and  make  'em  mind." 

"You  can't  always  have  the  last-named  pleas- 
ure, you'll  find,"  said  the  doctor,  laughing. 
"  Well,  good  day,  I'll  look  in  to-morrow." 

And  now,  Corny,  who  had  privately  and  pub- 
licly sniffed  at  a  girl's  love  for  flowers,  became 
absorbed  in  the  new  industry  waked  up  in  con- 
nection with  the  Little  Red  Shop.  Tied  a  pris- 
oner to  the  old  sofa,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but 
lie  and  count  the  hours  until  he  would  be  well 
once  more,  and  able  "to  pitch  into  business 
again,"  to  use  his  own  words.  So,  one  day,  hear- 
ing Rosy  chattering  over  her  little  wood  gardens, 


A   SUCCESS.  101 

he  begged  her  to  bring  one  to  him,  and  in  the 
talk  that  followed,  was  quite  surprised  to  find 
that  there  was  lots  of  fun  in  the  enterprise. 
Before  he  knew  it,  he  was  interested  in  lichens, 
and  partridge  berries,  ferns,  and  cup  moss,  and 
then  it  all  came  to  him,  that  once  when  down  in 
the  meadow  digging  for  flagroot,  he  had  run 
across  a  queer  plant  with  a  pretty  leaf,  and 
when  he  got  well  he  would  go  and  get  some  for 
Rosy  to  add  to  her  gardens.  And  both  children 
were  now  chattering  and  planning  as  merry  as 
magpies,  and  Corny's  face  held  the  first  con- 
tented expression  since  the  accident. 

Mother  Brimmer,  mending  stockings  over  in 
the  corner,  pricked  up  her  ears  at  the  word 
"  flagroot." 

"Jack  can  get  Teddy  Haskins  to  help  him 
dig  a  lot,  and  I  will  dry  and  candy  it,"  she  said 
suddenly ;  "  strange  we  never  thought  of  it 
before." 

"And  do  it  up  in  little  paper  bores,"  cried 
Rosy,  dropping  a  bit  of  cup  moss.  "  O  Mamsie ! " 

"  We  sha'n't  have  boxes  to  do  it  up  in  for  a 
good  spell,  probably,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer  cau- 
tiously, "but  we'll  make  it  look  nice  and  eatable 
someway." 


102  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"I'm  going  to  tell  Jack,"  cried  Rosy  flying 
off,  dreadfully  excited. 

"  Don't  go,"  begged  Cornelius. 

"  Here  be  is,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  looking 
out  of  the  window,  as  Jack  sprang  over  the  flat 
door-stone. 

"  Good  news,"  he  cried,  hurrying  in. 

"  It  isn't  half  as  nice  as  our  news,  you  better 
believe,"  shouted  back  Cornelius  from  the  sofa. 

"  Tell  yours  first,  Jack,"  said  Mother  Brimmer, 
"  you  spoke  first." 

"  Mr.  Hine  is  going  to  put  his  agency  in  our 
shop,"  cried  Jack  in  intense  excitement.  "  Now, 
mother,  what  do  you  think  of  that ! " 

Mr.  Hine  was  an  old  tight-fisted  farmer,  very 
rich  and  very  disagreeable,  living  over  beyond 
Orange  Hill,  who  had  held  back  from  the  move- 
ment in  which  most  of  the  prominent  farmers 
and  village  people  united,  to  help  forward  the 
interests  of  the  Brimmer  household,  either  by 
selling  produce  to  the  new  firm,  or  by  trading 
at  the  Little  Red  Shop.  He  had  poohed  and 
sniffed  at  the  whole  thing,  openly  ridiculing  it 
on  every  occasion  that  presented  the  least  chance 
of  a  listener. 

"Think  o'   them   boys,"    he   cried   once   to 


A  SUCCESS.  103 

Farmer  Bisbee's  wife,  "  a  settin'  up  to  go  into 
business.  What  can  they  do,  I  sh'd  like  to 
know." 

"Nothin',"  said  Mrs.  Bisbee,  "if  everybody 
does  as  you  do.  What  makes  you  act  so  like 
Kedar,  Mr.  Hine,  I  don't  see  "  — 

"  I  never  hearn  anythin'  like  it,"  said  the  old 
man,  quite  worked  up.  "They'll  bust  in  a 
month." 

"Now,  see  here,  Mr.  Hine,"  declared  Mrs. 
Bisbee,  who  was  never  afraid  to  use  her  tongue, 
"I  ain't  a-goin'  to  stand  here  and  hear  things 
against  them  boys.  I'll  help  'em  up  and  on, 
and  lots  of  other  folks  will  too.  Land!  it's 
enough  to  go  to  anybody's  heart,  if  they've  got 
such  a  thing  in  their  bodies,  to  see  'em  work. 
We'll  be  proud  of  'em  yet  in  Cherryfield,  I  can 
tell  you.  'Tain't  in  natur  that  such  a  woman  as 
their  mother  is,  shouldn't  have  good  boys." 

"The  boys  are  well  enough,"  said  Farmer 
Hine  carefully,  "it's  the  puttin'  notions  into 
their  heads,  and  makin'  'em  think  they're  smart, 
that  I  don't  like." 

"Well,  then,  if  you  hain't  anythin'  against 
the  boys,  only  their  age,"  cried  Mrs.  Bisbee  im- 
patiently, "  why  in  the  land  can't  you  keep 


104  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

from  puttin'  stones  in  their  way,  and  hanging  of 
millstones  around  their  necks  —  say  ?  " 

"  I  ain't  a-hangin'  millstones  on  their  necks," 
said  the  farmer,  quite  astonished  at  the  storm 
he  had  raised. 

"Yes  you  are,  too,"  contradicted  Mrs.  Bisbee 
flatly.  "You're  a-lettin'  that  tongue  of  yours 
work  day  and  night  against  them  poor  children 
whose  father  is  dead,  and  whose  mother  has 
nothing  but  her  pluck  to  keep  her  head  above 
water.  You've  worked  more  mischief  than  you 
can  undo  in  one  spell.  I  don't  see  how  you  can 
do  such  things,  Mr.  Hine,  and  you  a  perfessor. 
It  beats  me." 

Mr.  Hine  having  never  met  people  with  the 
courage  of  their  convictions  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  was  surprised  to  find  a  twinge  of  re- 
morse in  the  region  where  he  always  located  his 
conscience,  now  attacking  him.  And  without 
another  word  he  slapped  the  old  horse  with  the 
end  of  the  reins,  and  started  off  in  the  direction 
of  town.  When  he  reached  there,  he  drove 
silently  to  the  post-office,  got  his  mail,  and  after 
finishing  his  few  errands,  drove  off  down  a  side 
road  to  the  Brimmer  place,  and  made  his  call 
on  Jack. 


A   SUCCESS.  105 

"He  wants  to  have  us  take  orders  for  him, 
for  all  his  things,"  said  Jack,  "  even  berries,  and 
Mrs.  Hine's  butter.  A  regular  agency.  I've 
talked  with  him  most  an  hour,  and  we've  settled 
it  all  up.  He's  a  splendid  man." 

Cornelius  gave  three  cheers  from  his  prison. 

"We're  going  to  be  rich,  sure  as  fate,"  he 
cried  shrilly,  "  and  then  we'll  keep  a  big  store 
down  in  the  village." 

"  It  will  be  many  a  long  year,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer  in  her  most  cautious  fashion,  "  before 
we  shall  be  rich,  and  I  hope  never,  if  it  is  going 
to  turn  our  heads.  No,  boys,  it's  hard  work 
and  long  work,  and  work  altogether,  that  is 
ahead  of  us,  in  order  to  make  a  success  of  The 
Little  Red  Shop." 

"Now  tell  your  news,"  said  Jack,  when  the 
talk  ran  low  over  his  recital. 

"We're  going  to  beat  up  a  flagroot  trade. 
Mother  thought  of  it,"  said  Cornelius.  "It 
don't  seem  much  to  tell  of  beside  your  news, 
but  I  guess  it  will  work." 

Jack  hailed  the  plan  with  joy,  his  keen  judg- 
ment foreseeing  the  possibilities  it  held,  and  go- 
ing up  to  his  mother's  chair,  he  bent  over  it  to 
put  a  kiss  on  her  cheek.  It  was  unlike  Jack  to 


106  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

be  so  demonstrative,  and  Mother  Brimmer  in- 
voluntarily laid  down  the  stocking  and  put  her 
finger  on  the  spot  her  boy's  lips  had  pressed,  as 
if  she  would  hold  the  kiss  there  forever. 

Just  then  the  door  opened,  and  Miss  Clorinda 
Peaseley  came  in. 

"  A  new  stock  of  doughnuts,"  she  said  in  her 
brisk  way,  with  a  nod  apiece  for  each  of  the 
group. 

"O,  Miss  Peaseley,"  cried  Rosy,  rushing  to 
relieve  her  of  the  basket,  "  you're  our  fairy  god- 
mother." 

"  Fairy  nonsense ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Peaseley ; 
nevertheless  she  was  much  pleased,  and  untied 
her  bonnet  strings  for  a  comfortable  call. 

"I'm  astonished  at  you,  Jack,"  she  began, 
"to  find  The  Little  Red  Shop  locked.  I  came 
around  that  way  and  couldn't  get  in." 

"I'm  afraid  my  good  luck  has  turned  my 
head  a  bit,"  said  Jack.  "  I  ran  in  to  tell  Mam- 
si  e  and  the  others  the  news.  Business  now ! " 
and  he  was  off  like  a  shot. 

"Business  now  and  all  times,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer,  "seeing  we  have  set  out  to  succeed." 

"  And  you  will  succeed,"  declared  Miss  Clo- 
rinda, and  her  eyes  shone,  "because  you've 


A   SUCCESS.  107 

started  right.  It's  only  to  do  your  duty  over 
and  over,  every  day,  Mrs.  Brimmer,  and  before 
you  know  it,  The  Little  Red  Shop  will  be"- 

«A  success,"  shouted  Corny,  eager  for  the 
last  word. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

A    FAMILY    PARTY. 

nnHE  air  was  clear  and  fresh ;  a  slight  fall  of 
snow  just  conveniently  stopping  at  the 
point  of  becoming  higher  than  the  overshoes 
of  the  pedestrians,  lay  on  the  ground.  It  was 
an  early  fall,  as  the  old  farmers  say  when  there 
is  snow  at  Thanksgiving,  and  every  sign  gave 
promise  of  winter  shutting  in  rapidly. 

The  old  gray  house  set  back  from  Cherryfield 
high  road,  had  its  chimney  smoking  by  break  of 
day,  for  Mother  Brimmer  tied  on  her  baking 
apron  as  soon  as  she  had  told  Rosalie  how  to 
prepare  the  simple  breakfast  "  to  hurry  forward 
those  pies,"  as  she  said. 

"  All  that  can  be  done  to-day,  Rosy,"  she  ob- 
served, in  the  midst  of  the  bustle  that  now  en- 
sued, "  is  clear  gain  toward  to-morrow.  Always 
remember  that,  child ;  don't  leave  a  lot  of  odds 
and  ends  to  do  when  you're  going  to  have  com- 
108 


A  FAMILY  PARTY.  109 

pany,  thinking  you'll  have  time.  You  never  do ; 
and  the  last  minute  catches  you  before  you  know 
it." 

"It's  such  fun,"  hummed  the  one  girl  of  the 
family,  stirring  the  cornmeal  mush  in  the  kettle 
vigorously,  "  to  have  company.  I  don't  ever 
remember  having  any  before." 

"You  forget  the  parson  coming  to  tea,"  said 
Mrs.  Brimmer,  bringing  out  her  pie-plates  from 
the  pantry.  "  Let  me  see ;  I  shall  make  four 
mince  ones." 

"  He  isn't  company  ! "  cried  Rosy.  "  Mr. 
Iligginson  isn't ;  I  am  not  a  bit  afraid  of  him." 

"No  more  you  should  be,"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Brimmer,  setting  down  her  pie-plates;  "and 
then  again,  child,  there  isn't  any  call  to  be  afraid 
of  any  one,  so  long  as  you  haven't  been  doing 
anything  wrong." 

"  But  it  scares  me  to  think  something  don't 
look  nice,  or  I  don't  know  how  to  do  things," 
said  Rosy. 

"  Well,  that's  very  silly,"  observed  Mrs. 
Brirnmer,  going  for  her  pastry-board  ;  "  do  the 
best  you  can,  Rosy,  and  then  let  it  go." 

Rosy  turned  her  little  anxious  face  toward 
her  mother,  and  smiled.  "  Anyway,  this  com- 


110  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

pany  is  to  be  nice,  and  the  things  will  be  nice, 
too,  I  guess,  ma." 

"We'll  try  to  make  'em  so,"  declared  her 
mother,  energetically  stirring  up  her  mince-meat 
in  the  stone  jar. 

"What  will  Miss  Clorinda  say  to  see  the 
goose  that  I'm  going  to  roast  all  myself  ?  "  cried 
Rosy,  deserting  her  mush-kettle,  to  go  over  with 
this  important  question  to  the  baking-table. 
"Say,  ma?" 

« I'm  sure  I  don't  know ! "  cried  Mrs.  Brim- 
mer, with  pride.  "  She'll  say,  *  Was  there  ever 
such  a  goose ! '  like  as  not,  though,  Rosy." 

"  Do  you  suppose  she  really  will !  "  cried  the 
girl  in  delight,  the  color  coming  into  her  cheeks. 
When  she  looked  like  this,  Jack  and  Cornelius, 
and  everybody  else,  always  called  her  "  Wild 
Rose,"  and  it  was  their  secret  delight  to  sum- 
mon the  lovely  bloom  in  as  many  startling  ways 
as  they  could. 

"But  you'd  better  fly  back  to  that  mush," 
said  Mother  Brimmer  presently,  "  and  get  break- 
fast as  you'd  ought  to,  and  not  look  ahead  to 
to-morrow.  That'll  take  care  of  itself." 

"  So  it  will !  "  cried  Rosy  merrily. 

Jack  and  Cornelius,  now  hurrying  in  to  break- 


A  FAMILY  PARTY.  Ill 

fast,  the  small  maid-of-all-work  had  to  desert 
her  delightful  anticipations  of  to-morrow's  good 
times  and  fly  to  the  work  in  hand.  It  was  pres- 
ently on  the  table  —  the  steaming  dish  of  mush, 
the  baked  potatoes,  and  the  large  pitcher  of 
milk,  and  Mother  Brimmer  being  summoned 
from  her  work,  wiped  her  hands,  took  off  her 
apron,  and  joined  the  others  at  their  simple 
meal. 

For  the  good  woman,  although  her  children 
were  "in  business  and  doing  for  themselves,"  as 
she  proudly  expressed  it,  observed  the  same  fru- 
gality as  when  times  were  hard  and  the  future 
looked  dark.  "We  won't  give  up  our  plain 
breakfasts;  they've  always  done  us  good,  and 
we  don't  need  any  other  food,"  she  would  say 
when  the  boys  urged  her  to  have  a  "bit  of  meat 
for  herself,  at  least." 

"  No,  no ;  I  don't  want  it,"  she  said,  "  mother's 
tough  and  hearty.  As  long  as  I've  such  perfect 
health,  you  needn't  worry,  children." 

So  the  money  that  would  have  gone  into  the 
butcher's  till  for  the  beefsteak  or  mutton  chop, 
went  instead  into  the  bank  to  Brimmer  Brothers 
and  Company's  credit. 

And  the  economy  observed  in  the  matter  of 


112  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

breakfasts  went  into  all  the  other  details  of 
daily  life.  The  only  thing  in  which  the  family 
indulged  themselves  was  in  the  matter  of  books 
and  magazines  ;  and  occasionally  Mrs.  Brimmer 
would  send  the  young  people  off  of  an  evening 
to  a  good  lecture  or  concert  in  the  Town  Hall, 
or  she  would  go  with  some  of  them,  one  always 
being  obliged  to  remain  with  Roly  Poly,  who 
was  called  "the  baby,"  although  rejoicing  in 
the  dignity  of  five  years. 

The  business  of  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Com- 
pany, conducted  in  the  little  Red  Shop,  formerly 
an  old  tool-house,  had  prospered  steadily  from  a 
small  beginning  in  trading  a  few  vegetables  sup- 
plied by  neighboring  farmers ;  cakes  from  Miss 
Peasley's  generous  oven,  and  a  sprinkling  of 
other  commodities,  till  now  it  was  an  estab- 
lished grocery  store :  small,  but  eminently  re- 
spectable in  trade. 

It  was  started  because  the  little  money  left 
by  Father  Brimmer  when  he  died  had,  de- 
spite all  the  watchful  care  of  it,  dwindled  till 
now  there  was  only  a  pittance  left.  The  old 
weather-beaten  house  would  last  them  their 
lifetime,  and  the  ground  was  theirs,  but  the 
growing  family  would  need  more  each  year 


A  FAMILY  PARTY.  113 

to  support  them,  and  make  them  able  to  take 
their  proper  place  in  the  world.  And  the  chil- 
dren, who  had  silently  worried  over  the  problem, 
how  to  help  the  mother  they  had  seen  working 
for  them  early  and  late  ever  since  they  could 
remember,  were  at  last  one  day  helped  out  by 
the  little  old  red  tool-house. 

"Here  I  am,"  it  seemed  to  say.  "Your 
mother  has  given  me  to  you  for  a  play-house  ; 
now  use  me  to  help  her." 

It  was  an  inspiration  in  the  first  of  it,  to  be 
followed  by  hard  and  grinding  work,  much 
of  it  in  the  face  of  half-laughing  opposition 
and  downright  sneers  of  friends  and  townsfolk. 
But  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company  having 
begun  to  face  the  world  never  once  thought  of 
shirking  any  of  the  duties  which  they  met  there, 
but  just  the  same  as  if  everybody  believed  that 
they  could  make  a  success  of  the  business,  they 
determined  in  their  own  minds  to  do  so,  and  be- 
haved accordingly.  And  Rosy,  the  most  timid 
little  thing  before  strangers,  forgot  all  her  fears 
now,  and  as  Company  of  the  new  concern  de- 
veloped a  resoluteness  and  self-possession  that 
amazed  the  boys. 

All  this  was  two  years  before  this  Thanks- 


114  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

giving ;  and  now  Mother  Brimmer  and  the  suc- 
cessful business  firm  and  Roly  Poly,  were  to 
have  a  party ! 

After  the  breakfast  dishes  were  cleared  away, 
the  boys  hurrying  off  to  the  shop,  as  they  an- 
ticipated a  rushing  trade  for  the  day,  the  old 
kitchen  began  to  assume  the  aspect  of  getting 
ready  for  some  great  festivity,  while  it  smelt 
of  spices  and  boiling  sweets  clear  out  beyond 
the  lilacs  and  down  to  the  front  gate.  Every 
passer-by  must  have  known  that  it  was  Thanks- 
giving, and  suspected  pies  and  such  other  ac- 
companiments of  the  national  holiday  at  once. 

The  stoning  of  raisins  and  buttering  of  cake- 
pans  fell  to  Rosy  to  do,  who  was  excused  from 
shop  duty  for  the  morning  to  help  the  mother 
in  her  unwonted  tasks ;  and  patiently  the  little 
girl  performed  it  all,  secretly  planning,  as  she 
waited  on  the  busy  housewife,  taking  the  thou- 
sand and  one  necessary  steps  in  and  out  the 
buttery  and  pantry,  if  one  of  her  little  wood- 
gardens  remained  unsold  in  the  shop,  to  take  it 
to  dress  the  dinner-table  on  the  morrow. 

"  They  can't  all  be  sold,"  thought  Rosy,  almost 
wishing  for  the  moment  that  there  was  not  quite 
such  a  demand  for  them.  "  If  the  red  partridge- 


A  FAMILY  PARTY.  115 

berries  could  only  stay  at  home,  what  a  party 
we  would  have  ! " 

But  when  Cornelius  ran  in  to  dinner,  Jack 
staying  behind  to  mind  the  shop,  he  shouted  out 
gleefully,  "  Rosy,  every  single  one  of  your  gar- 
dens is  gone,  and  we  could  have  sold  two  more 
if  we'd  had  'em  i "  Rosy  gave  a  great  sigh, 
and  then  reproached  herself  for  even  wishing  it 
otherwise. 

"  Rosy'll  make  more  money  than  any  of  us," 
declared  Cornelius,  "  you  see  if  she  doesn't," 
between  his  mouthfuls.  "  How  I  wish  I'd 
thought  about  fixing  up  roots  and  ferns  and 
such  things  in  old  cracked  saucers." 

"  But  you  help  me," cried  Rosy.  "I  couldn't 
even  dig  the  roots  without  you,  Corny." 

"  And  me,  too! "  cried  Roly  Poly,  breaking  in 
with  the  greatest  eagerness.  "  I  always  go  with 
you,  Rosy,  you  know,"  and  she  laid  down  the 
little  bone  she  was  slowly  picking  to  regard  her 
sister  gravely. 

"  So  you  do  ! "  cried  Rosy  and  Cornelius  to- 
gether. "  I'm  sure  we  couldn't  ever  get  along 
without  you,  Pet ; "  whereat  the  baby  of  the 
family  felt  happy,  and  smilingly  resumed  her 
bone  once  more. 


116  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

But  that  night  a  rap  sounded  on  the  outer 
door,  sharp  and  decided. 

"  Run  and  see  who  it  is,  Jack,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer,  looking  up  from  her  stocking-mending. 

Jack  came  hurrying  back,  a  large  parcel  with 
white  paper  loosely  folded  over  it,  in  his  hand. 

"  It's  for  Rosy,"  he  said,  setting  it  down. 

"For  me?"  cried  Rosy,  too  astonished  to 
open  it ;  but  Cornelius  helped  her. 

"  It's  your  old  red  wood-garden !  "  exclaimed 
Corny,  dreadfully  disappointed,  at  least  expect- 
ing a  big  cake. 

"  Oh ! "  Rosy  clasped  her  hands,  and  took  an 
ecstatic  little  spin  in  the  middle  of  the  floor. 
"  Nbw  it  isn't  wicked  to  want  it ! "  she  cried, 
dreadfully  excited. 

"  If  I'd  known  you  wanted  to  keep  one,"  said 
Jack  slowly,  "  so  bad,  I  never'd  sold  it." 

"  Who  bought  it?"  asked  his  mother. 

"  Mrs.  Higginson." 

"  I  wonder  what  other  people  do  who  haven't 
got  such  a  minister,  and  his  wife,"  observed 
Mrs.  Brimmer,  wiping  her  eyes,  as  Rosy  fell  to 
oh-ing  over  her  treasure,  and  fondling  each  leaf. 
"  Folks  ought  to  be  good  who  sit  under  their 
preaching,"  she  added. 


A  FAMILY  PARTY.  117 

"  We'll  be  good  to-morrow,  anyway,"  declared 
Cornelius.  "  My !  don't  it  seem  funny  to  go  to 
church  in  the  middle  of  the  week!" 

But  on  the  morrow,  wasn't  that  a  festive 
scene  ?  The  table  was  laid  in  the  keeping-room, 
whose  door  opened  into  the  kitchen ;  knives  and 
forks  were  laid  for  seven  guests :  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Higginson,  the  minister  and  his  good  wife ;  Miss 
Clorinda  Peaseley,  of  course  as  their  best  friend; 
old  Widow  Tucker  and  her  spinster  daughter 
who  went  out  tailoring,  and  lived  down  in  the 
Hollow  ;  not  because  they  would  be  such  pleasant 
additions  to  the  party,  as  that  Mother  Brimmer 
felt  sure  that  no  other  invitations  would  be  sent 
to  them,  bidding  them  to  a  Thanksgiving  dinner; 
and  lame  Joey  Clark  and  his  sister,  for  the  same 
reason,  and  because  the  children  had  begged  to 
ask  them. 

Rosy's  wood-garden  had  the  place  of  honor 
in  the  centre  of  the  table,  and  it  did  seem  as  if 
there  never  was  such  a  number  of  bright  little 
berries  to  cast  a  glow  over  the  neat  cloth,  done 
up  in  Mother  Brimmer's  best  style.  How  they 
shone  among  their  green  leaves  ! 

And  the  goose!  The  cheeks  of  the  little 
maid  who  cooked  it,  rivalled  her  partridge  berries 


118  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

in  coloring,  at  all  the  compliments  that  were 
showered  upon  her ;  while  the  chicken  pie,  and 
spare-rib,  and  plum  pudding,  and  pies,  were  de- 
clared the  best  ever  eaten  ;  and  the  hickory  nuts 
and  butter  nuts,  cracked  by  the  boys,  received 
most  honorable  mention. 

And  old  Widow  Tucker's  thin  face  began  to 
lose  some  of  its  worn  lines,  and  she  forgot  to 
make  any  uncharitable  remarks  about  other  peo- 
ple, to  which  she  was  a  little  prone,  and  her 
daughter,  Miss  Mary  Jane,  seeing  her  ma  so 
happy,  came  out  from  behind  her  spectacles  and 
began  to  be  pleasant,  too. 

And  the  minister  told  the  most  delightful 
stories ;  and  when  he  got  tired,  then  there  was 
Miss  Clorinda  to  set  the  ball  of  conversation  to 
rolling  again.  Everybody  laughed,  even  lame 
Joey  Clark,  and,  altogether,  there  was  no  family 
party  in  all  Cherryfield  so  merry  and  festive. 

And  as  they  at  last  arose  from  the  table, 
everybody  protesting  that  they  could  not  eat  a 
bit  more,  Rosy  pulled  her  mother's  gown  and 
whispered,  "I  want  to  send  a  basketful  of  good- 
ies down  to  the  Four  Corners  boys ;  may  I,  ma?  " 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A   NEW   PLAN. 

ES,  dear." 

Mother  Brimmer  smiled  and  nodded, 
and  Rosy  ran  off  for  a  basket. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?"  cried  Cor- 
nelius, seeing  her  turn  over  the  turkey  drum- 
sticks in  the  platter,  when  the  basket,  lined 
neatly  with  brown  paper,  was  all  ready  and 
waiting  on  a  chair.  So  Mother  Brimmer  began 
to  explain. 

"Oh!  now,  I  say  that's  too  bad,"  cried  Cor- 
nelius, "to  give  away  a  lot  of  things  to  those 
fellows  who  pitched  into  us  in  our  shop,  and 
egged  me  most  to  death,  besides  making  me 
sprain  my  ankle.  Don't  let  her  do  it,  ma,"  he 
begged. 

"  But  Mr.  Plumtree  made  them  sorry  about 
fighting  in  the  shop,"  said  Rosy,  continuing  her 
selection   of  pieces,  "and   they  had   to   work 
119 


120  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

awfully  hard  at  the  farmer's  where  he  bound 
them  out ;  and  now  they're  all  so  poor,  I  don't 
suppose  they've  had  the  least  bit  of  a  Thanks- 
giving dinner." 

"  They  don't  deserve  any,"  said  Cornelius 
stoutly.  Even  Jack  looked  as  if  he  thought 
Company's  sentiment  wasted. 

"  I  told  her  she  might,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer 
quietly,  the  guests  looking  on  with  no  words  to 
offer. 

"Look  at  her,  —  she's  putting  in  an  awful 
lot,"  shouted  Cornelius,  hanging  over  the  turkey 
platter.  "  Rosy,  don't  give  'em  that.11 

"That"  was  half  of  an  apple  tart,  rich  and 
red,  and  juicy. 

"  Probably  the  first  they've  ever  tasted,"  said 
the  minister  softly. 

Jack  rubbed  the  toe  of  his  boot  back  and 
forth  over  the  polished  wooden  floor,  Miss  Clo- 
rinda  gave  a  mild  sniff  of  disapproval  of  the  way 
things  were  going  on,  but  by  pinching  herself, 
she  managed  to  keep  still ;  Corny  alone,  keep- 
ing up  the  other  side  of  the  argument. 

"  It's  a  perfect  shame,  when  it's  the  first  time 
we've  ever  had  a  Thanksgiving,"  he  cried,  with 
a  red  face  and  indignant  eyes,  "  to  pack  off  all 


A  NEW  PLAN.  121 

those  nice  things  to  a  lot  of  dirty,  mean  old  Cor- 
ner boys." 

Mother  Brimmer  still  kept  silent. 

"  Jack  thinks  so."  Corny  whirled  around  and 
pointed  to  the  senior  partner  triumphantly.  "  He 
knows ;  and  you  ought  to  do  as  he  says,  Rosy." 

Company's  little  right  hand  dropped  to  the 
side  of  the  basket,  while  her  round  face  took  on 
a  pained  expression  as  she  looked  at  Jack. 

The  big  boy  flushed  up  to  his  dark  hair,  and 
he  dropped  his  eyes  to  the  floor  to  follow  the 
working  of  his  uneasy  boot.  He  longed  to  say 
"  I  think  it's  ridiculous,  when  we  are  all  work- 
ing so  hard,  to  give  away  such  things  to  those 
idle,  good-for-nothing  Corner  boys,"  but  a  verse 
from  the  Bible  came  ringing  through  his  ears. 
For  a  moment,  he  thought  the  parson  must  be 
repeating  it,  and  he  glanced  up  quickly.  No  ; 
there  he  sat  in  the  high-backed  chair  looking  at 
him  silently.  Then  Jack  remembered  it  was 
in  church  that  very  morning  that  he  had  heard 
the  words  "Do  good  to  them  that  hate  you." 

Here  was  the  direct  command  from  the  Mas- 
ter. Jack  in  the  past  year  of  work  and  respon- 
sibility, had  drawn  very  near  to  his  Heavenly 
Father ;  at  the  last,  glad  to  enroll  himself  as  a 


122  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

member  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  And,  yet,  on 
this  blessed  day  of  thankfulness  for  the  wealth 
of  mercies  that  had  been  showered  upon  him,  he 
was  avariciously  shutting  his  heart  to  the  good 
impulse  that  would  help  some  of  God's  poor, 
needy  ones,  up  into  the  range  of  human  sym- 
pathy and  love.  They  might  be  wicked ;  all 
the  more  reason  that  he  should  do  what  he  could 
to  bring  them  to  love  the  good.  Mean,  con- 
temptible fellow  that  he  was  to  even  look  his 
disapproval  to  what  Rosy  was  doing ! 

Jack  threw  back  his  head,  and  Cornelius  gave 
a  long  breath  of  delight. 

"  Go  on,  Rose,"  said  the  big  boy  of  the  family, 
"and  I'll  help  you,"  Thereupon  Jack  sprang 
forward,  and  seized  an  orange  and  laid  it  in  the 
basket,  and  followed  with  two  or  three  handfuls 
of  butternuts. 

"  O w  —  ow  ! "  cried  Corny  in  despair. 

"Come  on,  Corny,"  cried  Jack,  his  color 
deepening  into  a  bloom  to  match  that  in  Wild 
Rose's  cheeks,  and  his  dark  eyes  dancing  with 
delight,  "  if  you  want  any  hand  in  this  basket ; 
see,  it's  almost  full." 

And  the  next  thing  that  Corny  knew,  he  was 
tucking  in  the  drumsticks  of  the  chickens,  that 


A  NEW  PLAN.  123 

he  had  fondly  hoped  to  pick  clean  on  the  mor- 
row; and  Jack  had  saved  himself  from  being 
the  one  to  pull  down  the  sweet  impulses  of  his 
younger  brother  and  his  little  sister,  into  the 
mire  where  all  was  of  evil  growth. 

"I  suppose,"  said  the  parson,  when  all  the 
packing  was  done,  even  to  the  tying  of  the  string 
across  the  cover,  "  that  you  don't  want  my  com- 
pany on  your  walk  over  to  the  Corners  —  eh, 
Jack?" 

"  Don't  we,  though,"  cried  the  boy,  never  the 
least  bit  afraid  of  the  minister;  now,  warmed 
up  to  self-forgetfulness,  in  a  mood  light-hearted 
enough  for  anything. 

"  Yes,  sir,  we  do !  "  echoed  Corny,  whipping 
out  his  knife  to  cut  off  the  string-end.  "  That'll 
be  just  gay,  if  you'll  come." 

"  Suppose  we  all  accompany  the  basket  party," 
proposed  Miss  Peaseley  slowly,  and  taking  her 
feet  away  from  the  cheerful  blaze  of  the  snap- 
ping hickory ;  "  that  is,  those  who  care  to,"  she 
added,  with  a  thought  in  time  for  the  widow 
and  her  daughter,  and  lame  Joey  Clark. 

Joey  looked  wistfully  across  at  his  sister; 
but  she  shook  her  head,  and  he  sat  back  obedi- 
ently in  the  depths  of  his  chair. 


124  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"Want  to  go,  Joey?"  asked  Mr.  Higginson. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  Joey's  thin  cheek  glowed  at  once, 
and  his  eyes  sparkled. 

"Now,  I  feel  just  like  a  ride  on  this  cold 
afternoon,"  declared  Parson  Higginson,  jumping 
up,  and  swinging  his  arms.  "  I'm  going  over 
cross  lots  to  ask  Farmer  Hooker  to  lend  me  his 
green  wagon  and  Betty  the  mare.  Want  to  go, 
Jack  and  Corny,  and  help  harness  ?  "  Both  boys 
signified  without  any  hesitancy,  that  they  did. 

"Joey,  you  have  the  first  invitation,"  said  the 
parson,  nodding  over  at  the  lame  boy ;  "  get  all 
bundled  up  in  fine  style,  —  and  all  you  others," 
waving  his  ministerial  hands  merrily  toward  the 
group ;  "  follow  suit,  and  we'll  pick  you  up  in 
about  ten  minutes  —  oh!  here's  my  coat;  thank 
you,  Jack,  and  Rosy,  for  my  hat.  Come  on, 
boys ! " 

And  so,  what  was  supposed  to  be  rather  a 
hard  and  unwelcome  duty  of  trudging  down  to 
the  Corners  with  a  heavy  basket  containing  some 
of  the  Thanksgiving  goodies,  turned  out  to  be, 
under  the  minister's  management,  the  most 
royal  frolic  of  the  season,  and  one  well  suited  to 
wind  up  a  Thanksgiving  party  with. 

And  then  came  Christmas. 


A   NEW  PLAN.  125 

There  was  no  party  at  the  old  Brimmer  place, 
of  course.  Mother  Brimmer  would  have  held 
up  her  hands  in  amazement  at  such  an  idea. 
One  festive  occasion  was  quite  enough  to  in- 
dulge in  for  a  year,  and  the  memory  of  it  would 
follow  each  day  of  the  twelvemonth,  with  inspir- 
ation to  heartier  work  than  ever. 

"  It's  Thanksgiving  all  the  year,"  said  Corny 
one  day,  well  along  in  December.  "  Didn't  we 
have  a  good  time?  I  haven't  got  the  taste  of 
those  pies  out  of  my  mouth  yet,"  and  he 
smacked  his  lips. 

"  Those  were  the  most  economical  pies  I  ever 
made,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  laughing,  "  they  last 
so  long." 

"  I'm  going  to  pretend,"  said  Corny,  nailing 
away  vigorously  on  his  mother's  washboard, 
which  a  rainy  day  had  allowed  him  to  mend, 
"  that  we're  going  to  have  some  more  on  Christ- 
mas." 

"Better  not,"  said  Mother  Brimmer  wisely, 
"for  you're  not  going  to,  and  when  the  time 
comes  you'll  be  disappointed." 

"No,  I  sha'n't,  Mamsie,"  said  Cornelius  de- 
cidedly, "'cause  I  know  you  aren't  going  to 
make  any.  But  I  remember  just  how  they 


126  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

tasted,  and  when  I'm  pretending  we  can  have 
'em  all  over  again,  it's  'most  as  good  as  eating 
any." 

"  It's  a  very  cheap  way  of  getting  a  nice  dish," 
said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  cutting  up  her  meat  for  the 
stew,  "but  I  don't  think  sham  pies  are  as  good 
as  the  plain  boiled  dinner  we're  going  to  have 
Christmas." 

Cornelius  pounded  away  a  few  moments  in 
silence ;  then  he  said,  "  I  suppose  we  ought  to 
do  something  for  Christmas;  that  don't  take 
money,  I  mean,"  with  a  glance  at  his  mother. 

"Well,  now,  children,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer, 
neatly  dividing  an  obdurate  joint,  "  there,  that's 
done.  I've  been  thinking  about  Christmas,  and 
a  plan  has  come  to  me." 

"Don't  tell  till  Jack  comes,"  cried  Rosalie, 
over  in  the  corner  busy  with  her  ironing  holders. 
"  O,  Mamsie,  do  wait ! "  she  begged  in  alarm. 

"Jack  knows  about  it,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer; 
"he  and  I  talked  it  all  over  the  night  you  two 
went  to  singing-school.  And  he  wanted  me  to 
tell  you  both  as  soon  as  I  could  get  a  good 
chance.  Now's  the  time,  I  think,  seeing  Roly 
Poly  is  having  her  nap,  and  we  three  are  all 
quiet  together." 


A  NEW  PLAN.  127 

"  O,  Mamsie  !  what  is  it  ?  "  cried  Rosy  breath- 
lessly; and,  dropping  her  sewing,  she  ran  up  to 
her  mother's  side,  Cornelius  also  deserting  his 
washboard. 

"  Go  right  straight  back,"  said  Mother  Brim- 
mer, clapping  the  potatoes  into  the  kettle,  "  and 
pick  up  your  work  —  dear  me !  can't  you  hear 
just  as  well  when  your  fingers  are  busy,  pray 
tell?" 

Thus  reproved,  they  hurried  back  again. 
"Now  tell,  do,  Mamsie,"  they  begged,  once 
more  in  their  places. 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer  slowly,  "it's 
just  this ;  Roly  Poly  must  hang  up  her  stocking 
the  same  as  usual,  of  course." 

"But  do  let  it  be  a  better  one  this  year," 
cried  Corny,  "old  turnip  dolls,  and  such  make- 
believe  stuff,  as  it  was  last  Christmas ! "  he  added 
contemptuously. 

"  Roly  Poly  had  a  beautiful  time,"  said  Rosy, 
"  she's  been  talking  of  it  most  every  day  since. 
Don't  you  remember  what  fun  it  was  seeing  her 
pull  out  the  things?" 

"And  the  doll,  I'm  sure,  was  a  wonderful 
affair,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  "  and  lasted  much 
better  than  a  store  one  would  have  done." 


128  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"And  when  it  wrinkled  it  looked  just  like  an 
old  woman,"  said  Corny,  with  a  shout  at  the  re- 
membrance; "and  how  funny  it  was  to  hear 
Roly  Poly  call  it  her  baby." 

"  And  wasn't  the  molasses  candy  with  the 
butternuts  meats  good,"  observed  Rosalie  re- 
flectively, "and  the  furniture  you  and  Jack 
made  for  the  dolly  —  oh!  I  think  that  was  so 
pretty." 

"  And  the  mittens  Mamsie  knit  her ;  I  forgot 
them,"  said  Corny.  "  Yes ;  it  was  pretty  good, 
after  all.  But  we're  richer  now,  and  we  ought 
to  give  her  a  better  stocking  this  Christmas," 
he  added  decidedly,  with  quite  an  air. 

"I  don't  know  about  being  richer,"  said 
Mother  Brimmer  cautiously,  and  giving  a  final 
stir  to  the  several  ingredients  in  the  kettle,  she 
put  on  the  cover,  took  down  her  pans  and  set 
about  moulding  her  bread ;  "  our  expenses  in- 
crease every  year  as  you  children  grow  older; 
and  it  isn't  right  to  plan  taking  anything  that 
isn't  actually  necessary,  out  of  the  nest-egg. 
Roly  Poly  will  need  every  bit  we  can  give  her 
toward  her  education  by  and  by." 

"  We  aren't  being  educated,"  said  Corny  de- 
liberately. 


A  NEW  PLAN.  129 

Mother  Brimmer  turned  away  from  her  bread- 
board, looked  at  him  keenly,  then  sent  a  swift 
glance  over  to  her  one  girl. 

"And  that's  just  what  I  want  to  talk  about 
this  morning.  You're  going  to  have  a  chance 
at  it,  if  you  both  agree  to  the  plan." 

It  was  impossible  for  the  children  to  work 
now ;  and  the  needle  and  the  hammer  dropped, 
while  Mother  Brimmer  went  on. 

"Mr.  Thomas  will  come  here  for  an  hour,  two 
evenings  a  week,  for  a  dollar,  and  teach  Jack 
and  both  of  you ;  and  I'm  to  have  the  chance 
of  listening  and  asking  questions,  so  you  might 
as  well  call  me  a  scholar,  too." 

Neither  of  her  auditors  said  a  word,  but 
stared  at  the  mouth  that  was  issuing  such  won- 
derful words. 

"  There  will  have  to  be  hard  work  on  your 
part  to  make  every  minute  tell,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer,  "  as  you've  got  to  keep  your  books 
by  you  and  study  when  you  get  a  chance.  But 
the  most  important  of  all,  is  to  keep  saying  the 
things  you  learn,  over  and  over  to  yourself,  so 
that  you  can't  forget  them ;  I  wouldn't  give  a 
cent  that  any  child  of  mine  should  get  anything 
into  his  or  her  head,  that  can't  stay  by  them," 


130  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

she  added,  with  a  scorn  to  match  that  of  Cor- 
nelius' own. 

"We  never'll  forget  what  we  once  learn," 
cried  both  Corny  and  Rosalie  in  one  breath. 
"  But  how  are  we  going  to  pay  for  it,  Mamsie?  " 

"  Well,  now  to  pay  for  the  lessons,  we  shall 
all  have  to  sacrifice  something,"  said  Mrs.  Brim- 
mer, drawing  herself  up  to  her  full  height,  and 
looking  resolutely  at  them. 

"We  can  give  up  our  play — afternoons," 
said  Corny  slowly,  his  black  eye  steadily  on  her. 

"  Never !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Brimmer,  bringing 
her  hand  down  on  the  table  with  emphasis, 
"  those  mustn't  be  touched,  whatever  we  do ; 
that's  decided." 

"  What  can  we  give  up  ? "  cried  Rosy,  in 
astonishment. 

"  We're  saving  everything  as  close  as  can  be, 
now,"  said  Cornelius,  with  a  decided  nod. 
"  Jack  turns  every  penny  twice  over  before  he'll 
begin  to  think  of  spending  it,  and  then  he  claps 
it  into  the  bank.  What  in  the  world  can  we 
save  more,  ma  ?  " 

"  I  said  *  sacrifice,' "  replied  Mrs.  Brimmer, 
very  distinctly.  "We  shall  have  to  draw  out 
some  of  the  nest-egg.  This  will  come  hard,  be- 


A  NEW  PLAN.  131 

cause  all  of  us  have  been  working  diligently 
to  put  the  little  fund  there,  and  every  cent 
taken  away  from  it  reduces  the  interest." 

Cornelius  began  to  look  grave  at  once.  Rail 
as  he  might  at  Jack's  regard  for  every  penny, 
the  accumulation  of  the  deposit  in  the  bank  was 
as  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  younger  boy,  who 
had  no  delight  so  great  as  an  errand  that  took 
him  past  the  large,  red  building,  over  whose 
door  was  the  magical  word  —  Bank.  To  stand 
here  a  moment  and  reflect  that  nearly  one  hun- 
dred dollars  was  recorded  on  the  books  to  the 
credit  of  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company,  re- 
paid for  many  hours  of  toil  and  self-denial. 
Now,  if  they  had  a  teacher,  some  of  that  slowly- 
accumulated  money  must  be  used. 

It  was  to  be  a  sacrifice,  as  the  mother  had 
said. 

"But,"  Mrs.  Brimmer's  tone  changed  to  a 
ringing  one  of  hopefulness  and  courage,  "the 
money  thus  taken  out  and  used,  will  be  the  best 
investment  possible ;  better  than  a  ten  per  cent 
interest  for  all  of  us.  Think  of  it,  children  ;  an 
education  for  you  and  for  me  !  "  and  for  one  little 
moment,  the  barriers  of  a  pent-up  longing,  that 
had  possessed  her  heart  for  years,  were  dropped. 


132  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"Mother,"  they  cried,  "let  us  have  Mr. 
Thomas  come  just  as  soon  as  he  can ! " 

"He  can't  come  till  Christmas  Eve,"  said 
Mrs.  Brimmer.  "  But  he'll  begin  then,  and  be 
glad  to,  for  he's  too  poor  to  go  home  for  a  va- 
cation. So  he  told  me  yesterday,  when  I  stopped 
into  the  District  school." 

"  Is  that  where  you  went,  Mamsie,  in  the 
afternoon,  when  you  put  on  your  Sunday  shawl 
and  bonnet  ?  "  asked  Rosy,  who  hadn't  recov- 
ered from  the  astonishment  produced  by  seeing 
such  preparations  made  for  a  visit  about  which 
there  was  no  attending  conversation. 

"Yes,  child;  I  asked  Jack  about  it,  first; 
and  then  he  wanted,  if  Mr.  Thomas  could  do  it, 
to  have  me  tell  you  and  see  if  you  would  like  to 
fall  into  the  plan.  If  Mr.  Thomag  couldn't  do 
it,  why,  then,  you  two  wouldn't  have  any  dis- 
appointment to  bear.  But  he  can.  O,  what  a 
Christmas  we  will  have ! " 


CHAPTER  XV. 

"OUR   ENTERPRISE." 

-  THOMAS,  a  tall,  thin,  keen-eyed 
young  man,  came  in  bringing  a  green 
flannel  bag. 

"Good-evening!"  said  Mother  Brimmer  as 
cordially  as  she  ever  welcomed  any  visitor  in 
her  life.  She  put  out  her  hard-working  hand, 
which  the  young  man  took  respectfully,  say- 
ing, "I'm  glad  to  be  here,  I  assure  you,  Mrs. 
Brimmer.  Good-evening,  Rosy,  and  Jack  and 
Cornelius ! " 

"  Good-evening,  sir ! "  The  young  voices  held 
a  glad  ring ;  the  eyes,  blue,  and  brown,  and 
black,  sparkled  joyously.  The  best  chair  was 
set  by  the  red-covered  table  under  the  bright 
lamp,  the  schoolmaster  led  to  it,  and  then,  sur- 
rounded by  the  eager  faces,  the  bag  was  opened, 
the  well-worn  school  books  drawn  out,  and  the 
work  may  be  said  to  be  fairly  begun. 


134  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

Mother  Brimmer  laid  aside  her  sewing,  and 
sat  there  with  swelling  .heart,  and  eyes  and  ears 
as  intent  as  were  those  of  her  children.  That 
any  opportunity  should  come  to  her  house 
without  being  improved  to  the  utmost,  was  a 
thing  undreamed  of.  And  she  drank  in  all  the 
instruction  in  such  an  absorbed  way  that  the 
schoolmaster,  looking  up  occasionally,  caught 
many  a  glimpse  into  a  depth  of  the  longing, 
self-sacrificing  patience  of  years,  that  the  good 
woman  supposed  hidden  in  her  own  uncom- 
plaining heart. 

"  Take  a  book,  Mrs.  Brimmer,  do,"  said  Mr. 
Thomas,  after  one  of  these  revelations.  And 
he  smiled  as  he  pushed  an  English  history 
across  the  red  table  cover. 

Mother  Brimmer  hesitated. 

"  That  wasn't  in  the  bargain,  sir.  I  was  only 
to  hear,  and  ask  questions  sometimes." 

"An  old  bargain  is  good  enough  till  you 
make  another,"  said  the  schoolmaster  carelessly. 
"  I  fancy  the  young  people  will  get  along  much 
faster  if  you  go  with  them."  He  looked  at 
them  quickly. 

"  Do,  mother,"  begged  Rosy,  leaving  her 
small  forefinger  on  its  paragraph,  and  cuddling 


"OUR  ENTERPRISE."  135 

up  to  the  comfortable  figure ;  and,  "  Yes  do, 
mother,"  echoed  the  boys ;  so  Mrs.  Brimmer 
took  her  book. 

"  I  sha'n't  forget  this,  sir,"  she  said  gratefully. 
And  there  she  was,  a  pupil  in  the  evening 
school  in  the  old  Brimmer  Place ! 

This  had  all  been  going  on  some  two  months. 
The  English  history  was  now  exchanged  for  an 
American  one ;  the  class  was  well  along  in 
arithmetic,  while  grammar  and  geography 
flourished  as  by  magic.  The  talk  in  the  shop 
between  whiles,  in  those  idle  moments  when 
customers  were  not  keeping  the  fingers  and 
brains  of  the  firm  busy,  and  there  was  no  work 
to  be  done  to  help  along  the  business,  were  now 
devoted  to  saying  over  to  each  other  the  many 
bits  of  knowledge  gained  out  of  Mr.  Thomas' 
green  flannel  bag.  And  it  was  quite  surpris- 
ing, even  to  the  young  people  themselves,  how 
much  better,  for  this  course,  they  learned  their 
lessons,  and  how  the  memory  grew  strong  and 
active,  till  it  became  a  good  and  reliable  ser- 
vant, incapable  of  playing  them  foolish  tricks. 

Inside  the  old  Brimmer  house  toil  was  rob- 
bed of  half  its  grim  aspect  by  the  companion- 
ship of  the  good  friends  admitted  to  Mrs. 


136  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

Brimmer's  acquaintance.  How  she  thought  and 
studied  as  she  baked  and  swept,  cooked  and 
washed,  ironed  and  sewed !  A  new  world  was 
hers,  as  she,  with  hope  and  courage  for  any- 
thing that  life  might  have  in  store  for  her,  was 
acquiring  the  golden  means  that  were  to  bring 
the  richest  possibilities  to  herself  and  to  her 
family.  It  really  seemed  as  if  the  Old  Brimmer 
Place  must  look  diffeoent  to  a  passer-by,  yet 
outwardly  it  was  the  same  dear  old  home  as 
before. 

One  morning,  well  along  in  March,  Jack 
Brimmer  walked  to  the  door  of  the  president's 
office  in  the  bank  building  and  knocked. 

"  Come  in ! " 

It  was  Mr.  Corbin's  voice,  and  Jack  felt  re- 
assured at  once  as  he  stepped  in,  cap  in  hand. 

"Ah,  Brimmer,  my  boy,"  said  the  president 
cordially,  and  extending  his  hand.  "  Glad  to 
see  you.  Sit  down  while  I  finish  these  papers. 
I'll  soon  be  through." 

"I  can  come  another  time,"  said  Jack  re- 
spectfully. 

"  No,  no !  You  don't  interrupt.  I'll  soon  be 
through.  Sit  down."  So  Jack  gladly  sat  down. 


"OUR  ENTERPRISE."  137 

"What  is  it?'\asked  Mr.  Corbin,  the  last 
paper  disposed  of  and  locked  in  his  desk.  He 
whirled  around  in  his  office  chair,  and,  dismiss- 
ing his  business  expression,  the  hard  lines  of 
his  face  relaxed  into  encouraging  friendliness. 
"  Can  I  do  anything  to  help  you,  Jack  ?  " 

"  You  told  me  to  come  to  you,"  said  the  boy, 
twirling  his  cap  a  bit  awkwardly,  "whenever — " 
and  there  he  stopped. 

"  So  I  did,"  responded  the  president  heartily, 
"  and  I  meant  it.  Now,  what  can  I  do  for  you  ?  " 

"  You  said,  '  Whenever  you  find  it  hard  to 
hold  on.'  I  remember  the  very  words,  sir,  they 
helped  me  so." 

Mr.  Corbin  leaned  forward  in  his  chair  and 
looked  at  the  boy.  Almost  as  eager  a  face  was 
it  as  the  one  he  helped  to  make  joyful.  How 
it  brought  back  the  hard  perilous  times  in  his 
own  young  life,  when  a  word  even  of  kindly 
encouragement  would  have  been  a  godsend. 
Help  this  brave  young  fellow  ?  Wouldn't  he? 

"Tell  it  all  out,  Jack,"  he  said  decidedly. 
"Don't  be  afraid.  Speak  as  you  would  to 
your  mother.  Now,  what  is  it?" 

"Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  have  come,"  said 
Jack  hesitatingly,  and  twirling  the  cap  again, 


138  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"as  you  said  'whenever  you  find  it  hard  to 
hold  on,  sir,'  but  I  thought  I  would  just  tell 
you  how  it  was.  It  isn't  hard  for  me  to 
get  along  now,  sir ;  business  is  first-rate,"  and 
Jack  straightened  up,  and  let  the  cap  be  quiet ; 
"but  it's  bard  for  other  boys,  and  I  thought 
maybe  you  didn't  know  it,  and  I'd  tell  you 
what  some  of  them  want." 

The  bank  president  sank  back  in  his  chair 
and  gazed  at  the  boy.  "  Go  on,"  he  said. 

"Now,  my  mother  has  managed  it  so  that 
Mr.  Thomas,  who  is  teacher  at  the  Centre 
schoolhouse,  you  know,  sir,  comes  to  our  house 
two  evenings  every  week  for  a  dollar  a  week, 
and  teaches  us  —  Cornelius  and  Rosy  and  me  ; 
and  he  lets  mother  be  a  scholar,  too,  without 
extra  charge.  Well,  sir,"  the  boy  drew  a  long 
breath,  but  proceeded  quietly,  "  money  wouldn't 
make  men  of  us,  nor  a  woman  of  Rosy,  even  if 
we  could  build  up  a  good  trade,  without  educa- 
tion. Now,  when  the  Baxters,  who  live  a 
mile  from  us  —  there  are  three  boys  there,  and 
two  girls  —  heard  of  it,  how  we  were  being 
taught  evenings,  they  just  teased  their  father  to 
let  them  have  Mr.  Thomas,  too." 

"Do  not  any  of  the  Baxters  attend  school?" 


"OUR  ENTERPRISE."  139 

"No,  sir;  Ted  and  John  work  on  the  farm, 
and  Jimmy  is  a  cripple,  and  has  to  stay  in  the 
house  ;  and  the  girls  do  the  housework.  They 
haven't  any  mother,  sir." 

"Ah?"  Mr.  Corbin  was  being  enlightened 
on  village  history.  "  Go  on,  my  boy." 

"Mr.  Baxter  couldn't  afford  it,  and  at  last 
they  had  to  give  up  asking,"  said  Jack.  "  I 
wish  you  could  see  how  badly  they  felt,  sir," 
and  Jack  stopped  again*. 

"Are  there  any  other  boys  and  girls  who  can 
not  go  to  school,  and  who  desire  to  study  in 
this  way?"  asked  the  president  abruptly. 

"Yes,  sir."  Jack  spoke  up  promptly,  with 
the  air  of  one  who  had  thoroughly  mastered 
his  subject  before  presenting  its  claims.  "  In 
all  I  know  of  fifteen  boys  and  girls  who  can't 
get  any  education  unless  some  one  helps  them 
out."  The  boy's  breath  came  quick  and  hard, 
and  his  eyes  glowed. 

"  Fifteen  boys  and  girls !  "  interrupted  Mr. 
Corbin.  "Is  it  possible?  And  I  fancied  that 
Cherryfield  was  superior  in  its  educational  ad- 
vantages to  other  towns." 

"  The  school  is  first-rate,"  said  Jack.  "  Mr. 
Thomas  is  a  splendid  teacher,  but  the  boys 


140  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

and  girls  can't  be  spared  to  go,  you  see,  sir. 
And  it's  hard  to  get  money  out  of  farming." 

"  What  do  you  propose  to  have  done  for 
these  boys  and  girls,  Jack?"  asked  the  presi- 
dent. "  For  I  see  that  you  have  got  a  plan  in 
your  head  already,"  he  added,  smiling.  "  I 
want  to  hear  it." 

"I  thought,  sir,"  said  Jack,  "that  maybe 
you'd  ask  the  selectmen  to  let  Mr.  Thomas 
teach  us  in  the  schoolhouse  two  or  three  even- 
ings every  week,  so  as  to  give  those  who  cannot 
go  to  school  days,  a  fair  chance.  Couldn't  it  be 
done,  sir,  don't  you  think  ?  "  Jack  got  up  and 
took  an  anxious  step  or  two  forward,  and  the 
president  also  rose. 

"  Jack,"  he  said,  and  he  took  the  boy's  brown 
palm,  "  I  tell  you  what  I  will  do.  I  promise 
you  that  Mr.  Thomas  shall  be  hired,  if  he's 
willing  to  do  it;  if  not,  some  other  good 
teacher  to  hold  a  school  two  or  three  evenings 
a  week  in  the  schoolhouse,  or  some  other  con- 
venient place,  without  charge ;  that  is,  if  the 
scholars  are  not  able  to  pay.  Does  that  suit, 
my  boy?" 

"  Capitally,  sir,"  cried  Jack,  as  heartily  as  if  a 
hundred  dollar  note  had  been  put  in  his  hand. 


"OUR  ENTERPRISE."  141 

"Now,  start  the  good  news  among  all  your 
friends  as  soon  as  you  like."  The  president 
still  held  the  brown  palm,  thinking  meanwhile  : 
"  This  is  the  hand  of  a  future  public-spirited 
citizen  of  Cherry  field  ;  a  man  who  will  work  for 
the  good  of  his  fellows  while  he  does  not 
neglect  his  own."  Aloud  he  continued :  "  Thank 
you  for  coming  to  me,  Jack.  Whatever  else 
you  think  of  that  will  benefit  the  boys  and 
girls,  let  me  know." 

He  pressed  the  hand  cordially,  then  dropped 
it.  "Now  I  must  to  business  again.  I  will 
let  you  know  about  teacher  and  place  very 
soon.  Do  you  see  that  you  collect  the  scholars. 
Good-by,  Jack,  and  success  to  our  enterprise." 

"  Our  enterprise  ! "  Really,  the  head  of  any 
other  boy  in  Cherryfield  would  have  been 
turned  by  the  mere  thought  of  association  in 
any  scheme  with  the  great  man  of  the  town. 
As  for  Jack,  he  was  so  intent  on  the  absorbing 
delight  that  now  his  friends  would  have  the 
chance  that  he  was  enjoying,  that,  beside  ex- 
ulting in  the  conviction  of  Mr.  Corbin's  good- 
ness, he  had  time  for  no  other  reflections,  but 
gave  himself  up '  at  once,  in  the  intervals  of 
work  and  study,  to  his  part  of  the  "  enterprise." 


142  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

Cherryfield  Main  Street  began  to  have  a  new 
sensation  the  next  day  when  it  was  known  that 
President  Corbin  had  bought  John  Shaw's 
grocery  store ;  not  for  the  purpose  of  turning 
John  out,  for  he  was  a  good  fellow,  and  had  his 
regular  list  of  customers.  But  the  president 
openly  declared  that,  while  he  should  let  John 
remain,  he  had  his  eye  on  the  second  story  of 
the  building,  which  was  a  long,  unfinished  room. 
When  questioned,  he  answered  that  when  prop- 
erly prepared,  it  would  be  an  excellent  place 
for  the  young  idea  to  shoot,  and  that  every  one 
would  know  all  about  it  a£  the  proper  time. 
And  now  the  village  carpenter  put  in  an  appear- 
ance, and  the  president,  stopping  in  his  carriage 
on  his  way  to  the  bank  of  a  morning,  would 
give  him  his  instructions  for  the  day.  And 
before  people's  surmises  had  been  well  aired,  it 
seemed  as  if  the  thing  were  done,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  a  crowd  of  grateful  young  folks 
from  Cherryfield's  four  corners,  let  loose  the 
secret.  That  evening  there  was  a  sort  of  jubilee 
meeting  in  the  grocery  store. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

LOSING    8ELF-CONTEOL. 

"TACK  BRIMMER,  racing  over  the  stairs 
^  two  at  a  time,  leading  to  the  "Thomas 
School,"  as  the  boys  dubbed  the  long  hall  over 
the  grocery  store,  saw  Cornelius  with  an  air  of 
great  concern  upon  his  countenance,  waiting 
for  him  at  the  top. 

"  Hulloo  !  why  didn't  you  stay  all  night  ?  " 

"Didn't  want  to,"  said  Jack,  with  another 
jump  that  brought  him  to  Corny's  side. 

"  Well,  you  might  as  well,"  said  that  in- 
dividual ;  "  your  history  class  has  got  all 
through." 

"O,  dear!"  cried  Jack  regretfully,  and 
wincing. 

"  You  can't  expect  to  be  as  late  as  this,  and 
find  everything  waiting,"  said  Cornelius  briskly  ; 
"  well,  never  mind  now,  you're  late,  and  that's 
all  there  is  about  it ;  what  did  he  say  ? "  he 


144  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

asked,  and  then  began  to  answer  his  own  ques- 
tion :  "  wouldn't  let  'em  come,  of  course.  So 
you  got  your  labor  for  your  pains." 

"  He  can't  let  'em  come,"  said  Jack  slowly, 
and  with  a  look  of  pain. 

"  Nonsense  !  he's  tight  as  the  bark  on  a  tree, 
and  twice  as  "  — 

"It's  no  such  thing,"  declared  Jack.  "He 
told  me  all  about  it,  Corny,"  added  Jack  in  an 
awful  whisper,  bending  down  to  his  brother's 
ear ;  "  there's  a  mortgage  on  Mr.  JBrowri's 
house  !  " 

Cornelius  started  back.  They  were  poor  in  the 
old  Brimmer  Place,  to  be  sure,  and  had  been 
much  poorer,  but  what  little  they  had  they 
could  claim  before  all  the  world  as  theirs  alone. 

"  Oh,  oh ! "  Then  seeing  Jack's  face,  he  added 
indifferently,  "  Never  mind ;  when  Mat  gets 
bigger  he'll  pay  it  off/' 

"  How  is  he  going  to  without  any  school- 
ing?" demanded  Jack  gloomily  ;  "  and  that  can't 
be  had  without  money  —  nothing  is  good  for 
much  in  this  world,  but  money,  I  believe,"  he 
said  bitterly  under  his  breath.  He  was  tired 
and  discouraged  in  his  efforts  to  accomplish  his 
friend's  great  desire,  and  distressed  because  he 


LOSING  SELF-CONTROL.  145 

had  lost  his  own  recitation,  a  thing  that  had 
not  happened  since  the  evening  school  was 
opened. 

"  Oh !  yes,  there  is,"  said  Cornelius  in  alarm 
at  Jack's  strange  manner  and  words,  "  ever  so 
many  things  beside  money.  Don't  you  know 
mother  don't  care  for  it,  and  she  would,  if  it 
was  the  best  thing  in  the  world." 

"  Think  how  she's  had  to  work,"  Jack  went 
on.  It  seemed  as  if  his  better  self  had  taken 
this  very  moment  to  prove  faithless,  and,  desert- 
ing him,  let  all  his  weakness  get  the  best  of  him. 
"  I  don't  suppose  ever  a  mother  had  to  slave 
so  on  all  this  earth,  as  ours  has,  Corny."  And 
he  brought  his  two  brown  palms  together  in  a 
savage  clap. 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Corny.  A  moment  in 
which  it  seemed  as  if  dark  despair  were  to 
envelop  both  of  the  boys,  to  the  shutting  out  of 
sweet,  reverent  faith,  and  youthful  enthusiasm; 
but  Cornelius  came  up  out  of  the  gulf  most 
suddenly. 

"  And  she's  taken  comfort  every  single  day  in 
her  life,"  he  declared  in  a  ringing  tone  ;  "  look 
at  her  face,  dear  old  Marnsie,  nnd  hear  her  laugh 
when  she  talks  it  over  —  so  1 " 


146  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

He  struck  his  hands  together  quite  as  smartly 
as  his  brother's  had  met,  and  faced  him. 

"  Well,  let's  go  in,"  said  Jack,  only  half  out 
of  his  depression  ;  "  if  lessons  are  over,  we 
might  as  well  show  ourselves." 

Before  Corny  could  beg  him  to  present  a 
pleasanter  countenance,  he  had  gained  the 
schoolroom  door,  opened  it  and  stalked  down 
to  his  seat. 

The  younger  brother  from  his  corner  could 
see  him,  his  head  on  his  hand,  busily  engaged 
in  a  book,  but  the  droop  of  his  figure,  very  un- 
like his  usual  sturdy  outline,  so  distressed  the 
watcher  that  he  tumbled  hastily  out  of  his  seat, 
and  almost  ran  up  to  Mr.  Thomas'  desk. 

"  Please,  sir,  may  I  speak  to  Jack  a  mo- 
ment ?  " 

"  Certainly."  Mr.  Thomas  was  giving  a  nice 
point  to  his  pencil,  and  scarcely  looked  up. 
Corny  hurried  off. 

"  Jack,"  he  whispered,  laying  his  hand  on  the 
elder's  shoulder,  "  don't  feel  so ;  it  makes  me 
sick  to  see  you." 

Jack  started.  Corny  could  feel  the  thrill  that 
passed  through  him,  and  the  brown  eyes  looked 
a  moment  into  his. 


LOSING  SELF-CONTROL.  147 

"  Go  back  to  your  seat,"  he  commanded 
sharply,  "  and  let  me  alone." 

Corny's  hand  fell  limply  to  his  side  ;  with  one 
more  look  into  the  face  just  a  little  below  him, 
he  turned  and  went  unevenly  down  the  aisle, 
dazed  and  cruelly  hurt,  to  his  corner. 

Jack  buried  his  head  deep  in  both  hands  and 
plunged  into  work,  but  the  words  danced  like 
so  many  demons  before  him,  every  one  having 
its  quota  of  stinging  reproaches  to  hurl  at  him. 

Many  curious  eyes  glanced  from  one  to  the 
other  of  the  brothers,  for  Cornelius,  less  skilled 
in  the  art  of  self-control,  was  having  a  hard 
time  over  in  his  corner.  To  tell  the  truth,  for 
the  first  and  only  time  in  his  life,  the  boy  was 
crying. 

Silently  but  surely  the  tears  were  dropping 
behind  the  pages  of  a  book  he  was  making  a 
pretence  of  studying,  while  having  forgotten 
his  handkerchief  which  he  had  left  behind  at 
home,  he  was  vainly  attempting  to  stem  the 
flood  with  the  backs  of  his  chubby  hands.  But 
as  a  river  is  swollen  by  the  debris  floating  down 
to  it  in  a  spring  freshet,  so  Corny,  as  the  remem- 
brance of  all  Jack's  bitter  words,  ending  in  his 
astounding  unkindness,  came  rushing  through 


148  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

his  mind,  found  it  impossible  at  last  to  do  any- 
thing but  lay  his  brown  stubby  head  flat  on  his 
desk  and  allow  the  tears  to  stream  down  his  fat 
cheeks  unmolested. 

The  boys  began  to  nudge  each  other  at  that. 

"  I  guess  he's  got  a  fit,"  whispered  one.  "  We 
ought  to  tell  the  teacher." 

"  No,  no !  let  him  be,"  said  another,  with  a 
more  practiced  eye  surveying  the  boy.  "  He'll 
come  to." 

"  I  sha'n't ;  I  shall  tell,"  said  the  first  one  in 
a  louder  whisper,  being  balked. 

"  Sh  —  "  warned  the  other. 

"Boys!"  said  Mr.  Thomas,  with  a  careless 
glance  in  their  direction,  "  no  more  whispering." 

"  There,  now,  Jim  Bent,"  said  the  last  boy, 
dodging  behind  his  book  and  dropping  his  voice, 
"you  almost  did  for  Corny.  Let  him  alone, 
can't  you,  till  he  gets  over  it  ?  If  you  don't,  I'll 
lick  you  when  we  get  out." 

He  doubled  up  his  fist  and  shook  it  at  Jim, 
while  the  side  of  his  face  toward  the  teacher 
was  sweetness  itself. 

Jim  accepted  the  promise  and  subsided,  but 
the  other  boys  had  now  taken  it  up,  and  it  was 
too  late  to  shield  Corny  from  further  notice. 


LOSING   SELF-CONTROL.  149 

And  in  a  moment,  Mr.  Thomas  himself  walked 
up.  "  What  is  the  matter  ?  "  he  asked  in  kindly 
astonishment,  feeling  hurt  himself  that  anything 
could  harm  the  Brimmer  boys. 

"He's  crying,"  volunteered  a  boy,  pointing 
cheerfully  to  Corny,  "  and  he's  been  crying  ever 
so  long." 

The  boy  who  wanted  to  tell,  now  almost 
wished  he  had  risked  the  licking,  for  the  pure 
gratification  of  being  the  first  to  hand  in  the 
news. 

"Why,  Cornelius,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Thomas, 
bending  over  the  boy,  and  laying  his  hand 
gently  on  the  stubby  head,  "  can  you  not  tell 
me  what  the  trouble  is  ?  " 

"  N-n-nothing,"  Corny  managed  to  mumble 
out. 

"  Are  you  sick?"  asked  the  teacher  anxiously. 

"  N-no,  sir,"  said  Corny.  But  he  still  sobbed 
on  silently  as  if  his  heart  would  break. 

Mr.  Thomas,  at  his  wits'  end,  went  down 
the  length  of  the  room,  and  paused  at  the  desk 
where  the  tall  boy  still  sat,  his  head  buried  in 
his  hands,  absorbed  in  his  book. 

"  Jack,"  said  the  teacher  very  gravely,  "  I 
think  your  brother  must  be  sick." 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

CALLED    AS    HELPERS. 

"TACK  sprang  to  his  feet.  A  dark  flush 
^  spread  over  his  face ;  he  threw  down  the 
book  he  had  been  vainly  endeavoring  to  study, 
and  dashed  down  the  schoolroom  aisle. 

"  Stand  back,  fellows,  can't  you  ?  "  he  cried, 
parting  them  to  right  and  left  as  they  crowded 
around  his  brother's  desk.  The  boys  fell  back 
summarily. 

"  Corny,"  whispered  Jack  hoarsely,  and  lay- 
ing his  hand  on  the  sturdy  shoulder  now  bowed 
with  the  first  sorrow  that  had  been  able  to 
bring  tears  to  the  brave  eyes,  "I  didn't  mean 
—  you  know  it  —  to  be  cross  to  you.  Why 
should  I  ?  "  lamented  the  elder  brother,  regard- 
less who  might  hear,  "  when  you  are  the  best 
friend  I  have,  after  mother.  I'm  a  brute  —  mean 
and  cruel  —  Corny,  but  I  didn't  mean  to  be.  Do 
look  up,  old  fellow,  and  say  it's  all  right !  " 
150 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  151 

Jack  shook  the  shoulder,  not  ungently,  but 
Corny,  once  started  in  tears,  could  not  stop  the 
flood.  The  matter  of  self-control  was  now 
wholly  out  of  his  hands.  The  flush  deepened 
on  the  big  boy's  cheek ;  he  drew  his  breath 
hard  v  and  set  his  teeth,  and  the  next  moment 
he  had  lifted  his  brother  by  main  force  from  his 
seat,  and  staggered  out  from  the  gaping  crowd 
with  his  burden,  into  the  hall. 

Mr.  Thomas,  knowing  better  than  to  follow 
him,  called  the  school  to  order,  and  very  soon 
the  exciting  episode  gave  way  to  the  usual 
evening  routine.  Outside,  Jack  was  saying 
brokenly,  "  Corny,  you'll  despise  me,  but  I  was 
all  at  sea,  and  in  doubt  as  to  its  being  much  use 
for  any  of  us  boys  to  try  to  be  a  man." 

At  that,  Corny  came  up  out  of  his  flood,  to 
stare,  with  round  drops  waiting  to  fall  from  his 
wet  eyelashes,  at  his  brother.  Slowly  his  amaze- 
ment gathered  to  itself  a  scorn  that  Jack  felt, 
rather  than  saw. 

"  I  know  it.  You  can't  help  but  despise  me, 
but  I  must  tell  you,  then  you'll  see  it  wasn't 
because  I  was  out  of  sorts  with  you,  but  with 
myself.  O  Corny!  I  wish  I  could  cry  —  but 
somehow  my  eyes  are  dry.  Do  help  me."  Jack 


162  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

threw  himself  down  on  the  bench,  and  buried 
his  face  in  his  hands. 

Nothing  more  was  needed  to  bring  Cornelius 
up  to  his  old  self.  Help  Jack  ?  And  Jack  dis- 
oouraged!  Corny  got  up  from  his  recumbent 
position,  the  tears  quite  dried  on  his  r^ound 
cheeks,  and  raised  himself  to  his  greatest  pos- 
sible height. 

"  I  suppose  God  is  the  same  ?  "  he  said  at  last. 
"  You  said  once  you  believed  in  Him." 

Jack  sprang  to  his  feet  as  if  stung.  "  I  do 
now  ;  may  He  forgive  me  for  thinking  that  He 
had  forgotten  all  about  how  hard  the  boys  are 
struggling  in  His  world.  Thank  you,  Corny." 
He  grasped  the  fat  palm  hanging  by  the  younger 
boy's  side.  "  Come  in  once  more ;  I  don't  believe 
we'll  disgrace  ourselves  and  Mamsie  again." 

Jack  strode  in  like  a  man,  and  Cornelius' 
boot-heels  rang  sturdily  over  the  schoolroom 
floor.  All  eyes  greeted  them  ;  no  one  making 
the  least  disguise  of  the  interest  the  affair 
had  aroused.  Jack  threw  back  his  head,  and 
smiled  at  the  boys,  while  Corny's  broad  face 
was  wreathed  with  the  most  benign  expression, 
that  made  it  look  like  a  laughing  moon. 

The  scholars  smiled  back,  and  each  drew  a 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  153 

relieved  sigh,  —  now  the  temperature  of  the 
schoolroom  was  right  once  more,  since  the 
Brimmer  boys  were  themselves  again;  and 
scarcely  realizing  that  there  had  been  any  break 
in  the  sunshiny  intimacy  between  the  two 
brothers,  the  classes  settled  back  to  work,  and 
straightway  forgot  the  whole  thing. 

But  Mr.  Thomas  thought  it  all  over,  and  de- 
cided on  a  certain  plan.  After  school  was  over, 
and  the  brothers  were  rushing  off,  arm-in-arm,  as 
was  their  custom,  the  teacher  sang  out,  "  Here, 
Jack,  wait  a  bit,"  and  motioned  to  a  seat  back 
of  the  desk. 

Jack  stopped,  whirled  "about,  and  came  back 
rather  unwillingly. 

"  You  don't  mind  telling  me,"  began  Mr. 
Thomas,  "  I'm  sure,  if  there's  anything  I  can 
help  you  about?" 

Jack  shook  his  head  sturdily  with  a  smile. 

"You  and  I  are  too  good  friends,"  Mr. 
Thomas  proceeded, "  to  have  any  silence  between 
us.  If  there  is  anything  troubling  you,  maybe 
I  can  find  a  way  to  help  you  out  of  it." 

Jack  stood  quite  still,  evidently  battling  with 
himself.  If  he  only  might  confide  in  this  good 
friend  !  Truly  there  would  be  "  a  way  out "  of 


154  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

the  trouble.  "But  it's  Mr.  Brown's  secret," 
thought  the  boy,  "  and  I'm  not  quite  so  mean 
as  to  tell  it ;  that  would  be  dreadful.  Better 
let  Reuben  and  Mat  go  without  the  schooling 
than  that." 

So  he  still  shook  his  head. 

"  Very  well,"  said  Mr.  Thomas,  very  much  dis- 
appointed, and  rising,  "  if  I  cannot  do  anything 
to  show  my  affection  for  you,  Jack,  now  when 
you  seem  to  be  in  trouble,  I  am  very  sorry.  If, 
at  any  time,  you  think  better  of  my  offer  to 
help,  come  to  me,  my  boy.  You  will  always 
find  me  ready  to  do  everything  in  my  power." 

"  Thank  you,"  cried  Jack,  all  his  heart  in  his 
eyes  ;  and  grasping  Corny's  fat  arm  the  tighter, 
he  hurried  his  brother  off. 

All  the  way  home  the  two  tongues  ran  glibly 
enough.  Jack  told  to  the  absorbed  listener  all 
that  Mr.  Brown  had  said  on  the  fruitless  visit, 
when  young  Brimmer  had,  according  to  the 
promise  given  to  the  Brown  boys,  interceded 
with  the  father,  begging  that  his  sons  might  go 
to  the  evening  school  over  John  Shaw's  grocery 
store,  at  a  cost  to  each,  of  one  dollar  a  week  — 
Corny  interrupting  occasionally  with  outbursts 
of  astonishment  at  finding  Mr.  Brown  a  poor 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  156 

man  with  a  dreadful  mortgage  hanging  over  his 
house,  or  exclaiming  indignantly  at  the  trials 
imposed  by  Providence  upon  their  two  ac- 
quaintances. 

"  What  ever  will  you  do,  Jack?"  he  asked, 
at  length,  as  they  neared  the  big  old  gray  house 
that  loomed  up  on  the  Brimmer  grounds.  "  Oh  ! 
isn't  it  just  splendid  to  see  Mamsie's  light  in 
the  window?  I  know  just  how  she  looks  be- 
hind the  curtain,  with  her  mending-basket,  and 
Rosy  sitting  by  with  her  book.  Isn't  it  prime 
to  see  it  all  before  we  get  in  ?  " 

Cornelius  gave  a  loud  smack  of  delight,  and 
turning  in  the  gateway,  ran  along  the  box- 
bordered  path,  speedily  executed  a  jump  over 
the  steps,  and  leaving  Jack  and  his  question  un- 
answered, burst  into  the  cheery  keeping-room. 

"  Goodness,  Corny  ! "  exclaimed  Mother  Brim- 
mer, as  a  gust  of  wind  followed  the  boy's  sudden 
entrance,  "  you  most  blew  out  the  light ;  where's 
Jack?" 

"Just  back,"  said  Corny,  with  a  nod  of  his 
head  toward  the  gate,  and  giving  his  mother  a 
kiss.  "  Whew  !  it's  cold  to-night,  though  ! " 

"  What  did  Mr.  Thomas  say  when  you  told 
him  why  Rosy  didn't  go  to  school  to-night?" 


166  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

asked  Mrs.  Brimmer,  looking  up  from  her  work 
a  minute. 

"  He  didn't  say  anything,"  said  Corny  in  sud- 
den and  complete  dismay. 

" Didn't  say  anything?"  cried  Mrs.  Brimmer 
and  Rosy  together.  "  Well,  that's  very  strange," 
added  the  mother,  while  Rosy's  round  face 
grew  very  grave. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  him  —  oh !  I  forgot,"  con- 
fessed Cornelius  wildly,  feeling  as  if  the  even- 
ing and  everything  connected  with  it  were 
certainly  bewitched.  Just  then  Jack  walked 
in. 

"What's  the  matter?"  he  cried,  catching 
sight  first  of  all,  the  displeasure  on  his  mother's 
face.  Then  his  glance  went  around  to  Rosy, 
who  appeared  very  near  to  tears,  and  finally 
he  looked  full  at  Corny.  "  What  M  the  mat- 
ter?" he  repeated. 

"  For  the  first  time  in  his  life,'"  began  Mother 
Brimmer  very  gravely,  "Corny  has  not  paid 
enough  attention  to  what  his  mother  said,  to 
remember  the  message  she  sent  to  Mr.  Thomas." 

"Tell  her,  Jack,"  implored  Cornelius,  be- 
sieging the  elder  brother.  «  Tell  her  quick,  do, 
what  made  me  forget." 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  157 

His  hands  worked  nervously,  and  he  seemed 
in  danger  of  being  submerged  by  another  flood 
of  tears.  But  he  kept  them  back  bravely, 
looking  to  the  big  boy  for  relief. 

"  Mother,"  said  Jack,  "  I'm  the  bad  boy.  I've 
made  a  mess  of  the  whole  evening —  every- 
thing's happened.  I'll  begin  at  the  beginning 
and  tell  you  all  about  it."  So  he  threw  him- 
self into  a  chair  close  to  the  mother,  Corny, 
with  immense  relief  to  his  own  overcharged 
feelings,  dragged  another  noisily  into  place,  and 
the  tale  began  :  — 

"  You  know  I  went  to  Mr.  Brown's  at  six 
o'clock,  so  as  to  have  plenty  of  time  before 
school  ?  " 

Mother  Brimmer  nodded,  and  fell  to  working 
again.  Even  in  an  absorbing  recital  like  this, 
her  fingers  could  not  afford  to  be  idle.  "  Go 
on  with  your  work,  Rosy,  child,"  she  said  to 
Company.  "  You  can  hear  as  well  if  your  needle 
is  going." 

"  Well,  first  thing  when  I  got  to  Mr.  Brown's 
they  were  at  supper." 

"  At  supper !  "  exclaimed  Mother  Brimmer, 
"  why,  I  thought  they  always  ate  at  five 
o'clock." 


158  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  Well,  they  had  to  have  it  to-night  at  six," 
explained  Jack.  "  Mr.  Brown  went  over  to  the 
Hollow  to  help  Mr.  Jenkins  kill  his  pigs,  and 
didn't  get  back  till  late  ;  and  there  he  sat  eat- 
ing till  I  thought  he'd  never  get  through." 

"  You  shouldn't  criticise  other  people's  ways," 
said  Mrs.  Brimmer  gravely.  "  "Tisn't  nice." 

Jack  flushed.     "  I  know  it,  Mamsie." 

"  Do  go  on,  Jack,"  begged  Rosalie,  in  great 
excitement,  setting  uneven  stitches. 

"  Well,  they  wanted  me  to  sit  up  at  the 
table,  but  I  told  them  I'd  been  to  supper,  so  I 
waited  in  the  keeping-room,  and  studied  over 
my  lessons.  And  finally  Mr.  Brown  came  in, 
smelling  of  ham,  and  says,  '  Well,  Sonny,  what 
can  I  do  for  you  ? '  " 

"  Sonny ! "  cried  Cornelius,  in  a  dudgeon. 
Was  not  Jack  in  business  for  himself  ?  "  Why 
didn't  you  knock  him  down?" 

"  O  Corny ! "  exclaimed  Rosy,  in  horror,  drop- 
ping her  work. 

"Well,  I  thought  I  wouldn't  just  then,"  said 
Jack  with  a  laugh.  "  I'd  take  out  my  revenge 
in  making  him  let  his  boys  go  to  evening  school. 
So  I  began  to  tell  what  I'd  come  for.  I  hadn't 
said  ten  words  before  Mr.  Brown  brought  down 


Wllll     M.l  K    VVOUK,"    SIIK    S.VIJJ    To    »<iMl'V.NV.  157 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  159 

his  big  hand  on  the  table  like  this"  —  illus- 
trating with  a  blow  that  set  the  work-basket  in 
a  tremor,  while  Rosy's  spool  of  cotton  hopped 
off  the  table  edge  and  ran  away  to  hide. 

"  Goodness  me,  Jack  !  "  cried  Mother  Brim- 
mer, with  a  jump,  "you  might  have  told  us 
without  taking  him  off." 

"  Excuse  me,  Mamsie,"  said  Jack,  "  I  didn't 
mean  to  hit  so  hard,"  and  he  dodged  to  recover 
the  cotton  spool. 

"I'll  find  it;  I'll  find  it,"  cried  Cornelius, 
forestalling  him.  "  You  go  on,  Jack." 

"  Well,  after  he  had  got  through  pounding 
the  table,  he  burst  out,  *  Do  you  s'pose  that  I 
don't  send  my  boys  to  school,  Jack  Brimmer, 
because  I  don't  want  to  ?'  Oh !  he  fairly  roared 
it  at  me,  mother." 

"  What  did  you  say?"  demanded  Mrs.  Brim- 
mer, holding  him  with  her  sharp  black  eyes. 

"  I  had  to  tell  the  truth,"  said  Jack  slowly, 
and  returning  the  look  with  one  that  spoke 
volumes,  "so  I  said  'Yes,  sir.'  'Well,  wi-11, 
well,'  says  he,  just  as  sharp,  three  times,  'did  I 
ever!'  then  all  of  a  sudden  he  sat  down  and 
leaned  both  of  his  arms  on  the  table.  I  thought 
at  first  may  be  he  was  going  to  knock  me  down." 


160  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

At  this  Corny  involuntarily  drew  his  breath,  and 
clenched  his  right  hand.  "'Jack,'  says  he,  I 
want  to  tell  you  a  story  :  When  I  was  married, 
about  the  time  your  father  was,  I  had  as  pretty 
a  farm  as  there  was  in  all  Cherryfield ' " — 

"Yes,  he  did,"  cried  Mother  Brimmer,  for- 
getting her  work  now.  "  How  everybody  talked 
and  said  in  ten  years  he'd  be  the  richest  man  in 
the  place.  Go  on,  do,  Jack." 

—  "  c  And  I  owned  it  all  clear,  and  had  five 
hundred  dollars  in  the  bank,  too ;  so  you  see  I 
could  hold  up  my  head  high,  and  look  any  man 
in  the  face.  But  it  wasn't  five  years,  and  I  was 
poor  as  Job's  turkey.' " 

"  Where  has  the  money  gone  to  ?  "  queried 
Mrs.  Brimmer.  "  Did  he  tell  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and,  oh  !  mother,  you  don't  know  how 
ashamed  and  mean  I  felt ;  there  I'd  been  think- 
ing him  close,  and  unkind  to  Reuben  and  Mat, 
and  all  this  while  he'd  — but  I'll  tell  it  just  as  he 
told  me :  — 

«<  There  was  a  man,  Jack  — no  need  for  me 
to  tell  his  name— he  isn't  in  this  town,  who  had 
helped  my  father  once,  and  one  day  he  came  to 
me  in  a  great  stress,  and  says  he,  "  Lend  me  for 
a  few  days,  Brown,  five  hundred  dollars  — only 


CALLED  A 8  HELPERS.  161 

\ 

a  few  days  —  and  I'll  pay  you  back."  I  didn't 
know  as  much  then  as  I  do  in  these  days,  so  I 
never  asked  him  for  his  note,  but  trusted  him 
same's  if  'twas  my  own  brother.  Well,  days 
and  days  went  by,  and  this  man  never  said  a 
word  about  paying,  and  finally  I  up  and  spoke 
to  him  about  it,  for  I  wanted  to  use  the  money, 
and  besides  I  heard  he  was  going  to  move  out 
West,  and  out  West  in  those  days,  Jack,  was 
'most  as  bad  as  going  out  of  the  world.  Well, 
when  I  asked  him  about  paying,  he  says,  as 
imperdent  as  you  please,  too :  "  I  d'no  what 
you're  talking  of,  Brown.  I  don't  owe  you  no 
money." 

"  *  Well,  you  may  b'lieve  I  was  struck  all  of 
a  heap,  my  boy.  The  long  and  short  of  it  is, 
he  never  did  pay  me ;  he  moved  out  West,  and 
I  never  saw  a  cent  of  the  money  I  hadn't 
anything  to  prove  that  I'd  given  him  ;  and  then 
I  s'pose  worryin'  over  it  made  me  sick,  for  all 
of  a  sudden  I  had  a  dreadful  cough  take  me, 
and  the  babies  began  to  come,  and  although  my 
wife's  as  good  as  gold,  and  as  brave  as  a  lion, 
she  couldn't  do  everything,  and  the  first  thing 
I  knew,  I'd  begun  to  go  down  hill,'  —  and,  oh  I 
mother,  don't  cry,"  cried  Jack  all  aghast. 


162  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

"  I  ain't  crying,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  for  the 
first  time  in  her  life  careless  of  the  exact  truth. 
"Go  on,  and  never  mind  me." 

" « Well,  Sarah  and  I  buckled  to,  and  fought 
like  tigers  to  make  both  ends  meet ;  then  she 
broke  her  hip,  you  know,  when  she  fell  down- 
stairs, and  after  that  things  looked  pretty  dark. 
But  that  woman  lay  there  on  her  bed,  and  used 
to  talk  to  me  and  hearten  me  up,  and  together 
we  agreed  not  to  say  a  word  about  the  awful 
pinch  we  were  under,  to  any  of  the  children. 
When  the  mortgage  had  to  be  clapped  on  to 
the  house,  we  couldn't  talk  about  that  hardly 
to  ourselves.  But  now  I  think  it's  time  to 
speak  if  folks  think  I'm  keeping  my  boys  from 
getting  the  education  I  might'  "  — 

"  Mortgage  ?  "  Mrs.  Brimmer  only  ejaculated 
one  word,  then  looked  around  on  her  children. 

"  Mother,"  cried  Jack,  springing  to  his  feet, 
"  I  just  rushed  out  of  that  house ;  if  I'd  have 
staid  longer  it  would  have  choked  me.  Oh  !  I 
must  tell  you ;  it  seemed  awful  that  God  let 
such  things  be.  Why  does  He?" 

Back  he  flung  to  her  the  question  that  had 
attacked  his  young  faith,  and  made  misery  for 
two  hours  of  his  life. 


CALLED  AS  HELPERS.  163 

"  He  doesn't,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  wiping  her 
eyes,  now  that  there  was  something  for  her  to 
do.  All  her  boy's  future  might  depend  on  her 
answer.  "  Never  believe  that,  Jacky.  Don't 
you  see  —  can't  you  see?"  she  cried  cheerfully, 
"  that  instead  of  willingly  allowing  it,  He  led 
you  to  find  it  all  out.  That  looks,  Jack,  as  if 
He  meant  you  and  I  to  help  set  things  straight." 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


THE   LETTER. 


you  see,  Jack,"  cried  Rosalie  with 
bated  breath,  her  color  coming  and  go- 
ing, "  it's  just  as  Mamsie  says,  '  God  has  cared, 
'cause  He  made  you  find  out  that  they  are 
poor.'  " 

Jack  turned  and  stared  at  her.  Was  it  possi- 
ble that  the  baby  of  the  family  should  set  him 
his  lesson  in  faith?  It  was  bad  enough  in 
Cornelius  to  turn  teacher.  But  this  opened  his 
eyes  to  the  fact  as  nothing  else  had  done,  that 
he  had  much  yet  to  learn  in  the  first  principles 
of  Christian  living. 

"  What  a  comfort,"  broke  in  Mother  Brimmer 
cheerily  as  she  wiped  her  eyes,  "that  you  do 
know,  and  that  you  can  help  them.  O  Jacky  ! 
what  can't  we  do  for  them?" 

«  What,  mother?    Tell  me  how  we  can  help 
them  ?  "  asked  Jack  eagerly. 
164 


THE  LETTER.  165 

"Well,  for  one  thing,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer, 
glad  to  see  her  boy's  hope  come  back,  and  the 
earnest  eyes  sparkle  once  more,  "  it's  now  time 
to  draw  out  a  little  of  your  bank-money." 

"  Mother ! "  broke  in  impulsively  the  two 
boys  together.  Rosy  said  "  Oh  ! "  and  stopped 
short. 

"  I  didn't  know  as  you'd  ever  let  us  touch 
that  except  for  our  lessons  and  sickness,"  said 
Cornelius;  "that's  what  you  said." 

"  Because  I  thought  lessons  and  sickness  repre- 
sented our  greatest  needs,"  said  their  mother, 
"  and  only  for  the  greatest  needs  was  the  money 
to  be  drawn  out.  I  never  thought  in  this  town 
were  two  other  boys  just  as  hungry  for  an 
education  as  my  children  are,  and  just  as  ready 
to  do  good  work  if  they  are  only  fitted  for  it. 
Mat  and  Reuben  are  good  boys,  we  must  never 
forget  that,  and  God  has  blessed  us,  and  we 
can't  do  any  better  work  for  Him  than  to  use 
some  of  this  money  in  helping  out  the  Browns 
now.  I'm  not  afraid  if  you  draw  any  money 
out  for  this  you'll  learn  extravagance,  and  touch 
a  bit  for  any  other  purpose." 

It  was  a  long  speech  for  Mother  Brimmer  to 
make,  and  she  leaned  back  in  her  chair,  her 


166  THE  LITTLE  BED  SH01\ 

honest  dark  eyes  on  her  group,  while  she  beamed 
on  them  all. 

"Mother,"  said  Jack  brokenly,  "God  has 
taught  me  what  I  never  will  forget ;  that  He 
does  care.  It's  we  who  are  blind  and  deaf  not 
to  find  it  out." 

Mother  Brimmer  leaned  over  the  table-edge 
and  grasped  his  hand  sympathizingly. 

"But  the  money — the  money!"  cried  Cor- 
nelius excitedly,  "  how  much  are  you  going  to 
draw  out?" 

"One  dollar  a  week,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer 
slowly  and  decidedly.  "  We  must  none  of  us 
lisp  a  word  to  Mr.  Thomas,  for  that  would  be 
the  same  as  asking  him  to  give  the  teaching  for 
half-pay,  or  for  nothing ;  and  that  would  be 
the  last  thing  he  ought  to  do.  No,  this  shall  be 
our  own  affair.  We  will  keep  the  Browns' 
secret,  and  help  them  as  we  ought  to." 
.  "  True  enough,  mother,"  declared  Jack  like 
a  man.  "  Remember,  Corny,  now  not  a  whisper 
to  a  soul ;  Rosy,  I  know,  won't  tell.  I'll  draw 
out  dollar  No.  1  to-morrow." 

"  And  I'll  go  with  you,"  said  Corny  eagerly, 
"and  then  we'll  go  and  take  it  to  the  Browns'. 
Hooray !  I  wish  we  could  do  it  all  to-night." 


THE  LETTER.  167 

He  executed  a  jump  that  carried  him  well 
into  the  middle  of  the  room,  whirled  around  a 
few  times  as  only  Corny  could  whirl,  and  came 
back  to  the  table. 

"  I  wouldn't  take  it,"  said  Rosy,  with  nice 
instinct  all  alive,  "  I'd  send  it  in  a  letter.  That's 
nicer." 

"  So  'tis,  Jack,"  said  Mother  Brimmer,  with  a 
wise  nod  at  Rosy.  But  Cornelius  howled  with 
disappointment. 

"If  we  give  all  that  pile  of  money,  I  sh'd 
think  we  might  get  some  fun  out  of  it,"  he 
grumbled  on. 

"  We  aren't  doing  this  for  fun,"  said  Rosy  in 
a  disapproving  little  voice.  "  And  the  Browns 
will  like  it  ever  so  much  better  to  have  it  come 
in  alone  in  a  letter,  than  to  have  any  one  look- 
ing on." 

"  And  you  shall  write  that  letter,  Corny," 
said  Jack,  trying  to  think  he  didn't  care  to  write 
it  himself.  "  That  will  be  fun." 

"  Oh  !  don't,  Jack,"  began  Rosy,  but  a  glance 
from  Mother  Brimmer  stopped  her. 

"  I'm  going  to  do  it  now,"  cried  Cornelius, 
dreadfully  excited,  and,  running  over  to  the 
corner  secretary,  he  speedily  brought  out  a 


168  TEE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

sheet  of  paper,  on  which  he  traced  in  sprawling 
characters,  — 

"  Dear  Mat  and  Reuben  "  — 

"Now  what  next?"  he  demanded,  his  pen 
poised  in  mid -air.  "  You  tell,  Jack." 

"  How  would  you  say  it,  mother  ?  " 

"  I  should  say  it  in  the  fewest  words  that 
would  make  the  boys  understand.  Yes,  you 
write  it  if  Corny  wants  you  to,  Jack." 

So  Jack  went  over  to  the  old  secretary,  and 
Corny  relinquished  the  pen  to  the  older  fingers, 
a  speedy  manipulating  of  the  instrument  ensued, 
and  presently  the  younger  boy  shouted  out  that 
it  was  done. 

"  Read  it,  Jack,  do,"  cried  Mother  Brimmer 
as  eagerly  as  Rosy. 

So  Jack  read :  — 

"  Dear  Mat  and  Rueben:  — 

You've  both  always  been  so  good  to  us,  that 
it's  no  more  than  fair  now  that  we  should  begin 
to  pay  up.  Please  find  enclosed  ten  dollars,  for 
ten  weeks  school-money.  Do  be  there  to-morrow 
evening  "  — 


THE  LETTER.  169 

"  You  see,  mother,"  cried  Jack,  interrupting 
himself,  "  I  thought  after  I'd  begun  to  write 
that  the  boys  would  rather  have  it  all  at  once, 
than  to  feel  obliged  to  us  every  week." 

"  You're  right,  Jacky,"  said  Mother  Brimmer 
approvingly.  "  And  the  interest  saved  wouldn't 
be  much  by  drawing  a  little  at  a  time.  Well, 
you've  done  that  splendidly." 

"  Hasn't  he,  Mamsie ! "  cried  Rosy,  with  spark- 
ling eyes,  while  Cornelius  wondered  if  he  would 
ever  be  big  enough  to  write  like  that. 

"  Well,  now  you  must  sign  it,"  he  said,  coming 
out  of  his  reverie. 

"  We  must  all  sign  it,"  said  Jack  ;  "  it's  a  gift 
from  us  all." 

"  Your  name  must  go  first,  Jack,"  said  Mrs. 
Brimmer. 

"  Oh !  I  never  can  write,"  cried  Rosy  in  horror. 
"  Let  Jack  sign  it,  do,  Mamsie." 

"  What  is  the  good  of  your  taking  writing 
lessons,  Rosy,"  said  her  mother  gravely,  "  if  you 
are  not  to  use  your  knowledge  ?  " 

"  But  I  write  so  perfectly  horrid,"  mourned 
Rosy. 

"Do  as  well  as  you  can,  child,"  said  Mrs. 
Brimmer ;  "  no  one  can  do  more." 


170  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"  I'm  going  to  write  big,"  cried  Cornelius ; 
and  as  Jack's  signature  was  now  down,  he  set 
underneath  it  letters  as  large  as  his  promise. 
"  Now,  Rosy ! " 

At  last  Company's  crooked  little  name  was 
complete,  which  she  surveyed  with  blushing 
cheeks,  and  an  immense  determination  to  im- 
prove every  future  writing  lesson  to  its  utmost. 

The  next  morning  as  Jack  was  hurrying  out 
of  the  bank,  his  ten  dollars  within  his  bank- 
book, he  ran  suddenly  against  President  Corbin 
going  into  his  private  office. 

"  Been  depositing,  my  boy  ? "  said  the  Presi- 
dent cordially. 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Jack.  Somehow  it  suddenly 
struck  him  that  he  preferred  not  to  tell  Mr. 
Corbin  about  it,  as  long  as  his  tongue  was  tied 
as  to  the  details. 

"Ah!"  said  the  President,  "been  drawing 
on  your  funds?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Jack,  wishing  he  could  tell 
his  kind  friend  all  about  it. 

"Do  you  care  if  I  ask  you  how  much?"  the 
President  asked  gravely.  "  Excuse  me,  but  you 
know  I  hold  no  idle  curiosity  in  regard  to  you." 


THE  LETTER.  171 

"  Ten  dollars,"  said  Jack,  in  an  agony  lest  he 
should  break  his  promise  and  tell,  after  all. 

He  was  about  to  add,  on  seeing  the  President's 
face,  "  Mother  knows  all  about  it,  sir,"  when  a 
gentleman  touched  Mr.  Corbin's  arm  :  "  I  must 
speak  to  you  this  moment,  sir."  And  Jack's 
chance  of  being  heard  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A   MIXTUBB. 

T,"  said  Reuben  huskily,  "I  don't 
mind  saying  that  I'm  clear  beat  out, 
and  there's  nobody  to  care ;  that's  the  worst 
of  it." 

Both  boys  were  up  in  the  attic  chamber. 
It  was  a  dull  gray  day,  with  the  rain  just 
beginning  to  fall  in  a  thin  drizzle.  Outside 
there  was  nothing  more  enlivening  to  watch 
than  a  long  line  of  bedraggled  fowls  huddling 
in  under  the  shed,  and  Bose  the  watch-dog, 
who,  having  a  treasure  of  a  bone,  was  careless 
of  the  wetting  his  shaggy  coat  was  receiving, 
but  down  in  the  middle  of  the  cart-path  was 
gnawing  it  with  evident  relish. 

The  rain  now  pattered  softly  on  the  roof,  as 
a  sad  echo  to  Reuben's  words. 

"  I  can't  stand  it,"  cried  Mat  suddenly.  "  And 
I'm  going  to  cut  and  run."  ^ 

172 


A   MIXTURE.  173 

"  Where  ?  "  Reuben's  voice  had  a  sneer  in 
it,  and  incredulity  spread  all  over  his  round, 
freckled  countenance. 

"  Just  where  other  boys  have  gone  —  to  sea, 
of  course,"  said  Mat.  "I  don't  blame  them, 
either." 

"  Hoh-hoh ! "  Reuben  couldn't  help  it,  despite 
his  melancholy.  It  seemed  so  droll  to  hear  Mat 
planning  the  inevitable  sea-trip  that  all  discon- 
solate boys  take. 

"Say  somewhere  else,  Mat,"  he  advised,  "just 
for  a  change." 

"  What  will  become  of  us,"  cried  his  brother, 
facing  him  suddenly,  "if  we  stay  here  in  this 
old  hole;  say?  we'll  be  just  like  that  dog,  and 
those  old  hens,"  pointing  out  the  window, 
"  only  knowing  enough  to  go  in  when  it  rains." 

Reuben,  once  having  laughed,  felt  better,  so 
he  now  said  facetiously,  "  Bose  don't  even  know 
enough  for  that ;  look  at  him  catching  it." 

"  Well,  we're  like  him  ;  don't  know  enough 
to  get  away  and  better  ourselves." 

"  Mat,"  said  Reuben,  the  laugh  dropping  out 
from  face  and  voice,  "this  is  our  home,  and 
we've  no  right  to  sneak  off  even  if  father  won't 
let  us  have  a  chance  at  the  school." 


174  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

Mat  made  answer :  "  He  might  if  he  wanted 
to.  Says  he  can't  afford  it ;  but  those  boys  who 
can't  pay,  can  get  in  for  nothing.  There's  no 
excuse  for  him." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  as  I  want  to  go  that 
way,"  confessed  Reuben  slowly ;  "  I  ain't  quite 
ready  to  chum  it  with  those  Baxter  boys  and 
that  crowd,  but  because  we  can't  get  what  we 
want,  I  s'pose  is  no  reason  why  we  shouldn't 
stay  here  and  work  for  father  and  mother." 

"Who  said  first  he  was  all  beat  out,  and 
that  nobody  cared  ?  "  demanded  Mat,  flushing. 
"Say?" 

"I  did,"  confessed  Reuben,  "and  I  say  it 
again.  But  I  don't  want  to  run.  I'd  rather 
drop  in  my  tracks." 

"  I  hadn't,"  said  Mat  defiantly,  "  I'm  sick  of 
the  old  place,  and  I  can't  stay  here.  I  feel  all 
stiffening  up  and  no  more  life  to  me  than  a  last 
year's  almanac.  Look  at  the  other  boys,  Reub ; 
I  go  out  of  the  way  not  to  meet  them  days. 
And  just  think  of  the  schooling  they're  getting." 
He  drew  a  long  breath  and  gazed  at  his  brother. 

Reuben  flushed,  and  began  uneasily,  "I  know 
it ;  even  the  Brimmer  boys  "  — 

"  Yes,  even  the  Brimmer  boys,  they're  flush 


A  MIXTURE.  175 

with  money,  cramming  it  into  the  bank,  and 
getting  an  education  and  making  men  of  them- 
selves. Well,  if  you  can  stand  it  all,  you  do 
more  than  I  can."  Mat  whistled  now  and 
thrust  his  hands  deep  in  his  pockets. 

"  And  Jack  and  Corny  don't  seem  to  care," 
cried  Reuben.  "We  don't  expect  the  other 
boys  to ;  but  I  did  think  they  might  show  a 
little  feeling,  and  they  don't  come  here  now, 
nor  "  — 

"That's  because  they're  getting  an  educa- 
tion," said  Mat  bitterly.  "You  couldn't  expect 
such  fellows  to  notice  us  farm  boys.  Like 
enough  they'll  go  to  college." 

At  that  Reuben  whirled  around  and  honored 
him  with  a  broad  stare  of  amazement. 

"  Eo-oys  !  "  It  was  the  feeble  voice  of  their 
mother  from  her  sofa  where  she  spent  the  days 
since  the  accident. 

"  We're  wanted,"  cried  Mat,  springing  for  the 
stairs. 

"I  hope  mother  isn't  worse,"  said  Reuben, 
with  a  twinge  of  remorse  at  the  wood-sawing 
left  so  long,  and  following  quickly. 

Mat  being  first  at  the  sofa  side,  had  an  en- 
velope put  into  his  hand. 


176  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"  Your  father  got  this  out  of  the  post-office ; 
he  went  down  to  the  doctor's  after  my  medi- 
cine. It's  for  you  two  boys."  Then  she  turned 
over  and  wearily  closed  her  eyes. 

"  For  us  ? "  cried  Mat,  staring  at  the  super- 
scription. 

"  Yes,  yes,"  cried  Reuben,  over  his  shoulder. 
"  Don't  you  see  —  *  Mat  and  Reuben  Brown.' 
Do  open  it ;  hurry ! " 

Mat  whipped  out  his  jack-knife,  his  eyes  still 
very  big,  and  in  a  trice  the  story  was  told. 

The  two  brothers  turned  and  looked  deep  in 
each  other's  eyes. 

"  Well  ?  "  breathed  Mat,  coming  to  himself  the 
first,  then  looking  down  at  the  ten  dollar  bill. 
And  "Well?"  echoed  Reuben,  who  added 
with  a  gasp,  "  But  we  ought  not  to  take  it,  for 
we've  believed  such  things  of  them." 

"  All  the  more  reason  why  we  should  take 
it,"  said  Mat.  "  Don't  you"  — 

"  Look  at  mother  —  oh !  look  at  mother,"  ex- 
claimed Reuben,  interrupting  hastily,  and  he 
sprang  to  the  sofa. 

Mat  sprang,  too;  their  mother  had  fainted. 
In  the  confusion  following,  all  thoughts  of  the 
school-money  were  put  one  side,  and  it  was  not 


A  MIXTURE.  177 

until  she  had  regained  consciousness,  and  was 
comfortably  sitting  up  among  her  pillows,  that 
either  boy  dared  to  speak  of  it.  Then  it  was 
Mrs.  Brown  who  began  it. 

"I  saw  a  ten  dollar  bill  in  your  hand,  Mat," 
she  said  slowly,  and  fixing  her  dark  eyes  on  him. 
"  How  came  you  by  the  money  ?  I  was  going 
to  ask,  and  my  strength  gave  out,  for  I  am 
more  weak  than  usual  this  morning." 

"  Mother,"  said  Mat.  Then  he  just  laid  his 
head  in  her  lap,  and,  big  boy  that  he  was,  burst 
out  crying.  Reuben's  lips  twitched  and  he  had 
great  difficulty  not  to  follow  his  example,  but 
his  mother's  distressed  face  made  him  hasten  to 
say,  "  Jack  and  Corny  and  Rosy  have  made  us 
a  present  of  it  for  school-money." 

"  Thank  God  !  "  said  Mrs.  Brown,  folding  her 
hands,  "  I  knew  some  help  would  come ;  I've 
longed  and  prayed  for  it  so  for  you  two  boys." 

"  Why,  mother,  did  you  care  ? "  they  both 
cried,  Mat  lifting  his  head  suddenly  to  look  at 
her. 

"Care?"  repeated  their  mother  hoarsely. 
"  O,  boys !  if  you  only  knew  how  I've  lain 
awake  nights — the  pain  was  nothing  to  my 
worry  because  you  were  having  no  education. 


178  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

Care?"  and  she  put  her  feeble  arms  around 
them. 

"Did  father  care?"  cried  Reuben.  Nothing 
would  have  surprised  them  now,  only  it  smote 
them  most  keenly  with  regret  for  the  bitter 
thoughts  they  had  cherished  just  one  hour  ago, 
to  hear  the  recital  how  the  hard-worked,  de- 
sponding father  had  tried  to  conceal  from  his 
sick  wife  his  distress  at  having  no  money  to 
pay  for  schooling  for  his  two  boys. 

"But  he  talked  it  over  sometimes  in  his 
sleep,"  said  Mrs.  Brown.  "  And  it  was  a  thou- 
sand times  worse  for  me  to  hear  at  that  time 
than  if  he'd  spoken  freely  to  me.  All  day  he 
was  silent  as  the  grave,  though  I  often  tried 
to  get  him  to  talk  about  it.  He'd  always 
smile  in  that  patient  way  he  has,  and  change 
the  subject." 

"  And  I  had  made  up  my  mind  to  run  off  to 
sea,"  said  Mat  brokenly. 

His  mother  sat  erect  and  looked  at  him.  "  If 
you  had,"  she  said,  "you'd  have  killed  your 
father  and  me." 

"  Where  is  father?"  asked  Reuben,  "  oughtn't 
we  to  tell  him  as  quick  as  we  can  "  — 

"  Do  you  suppose  I'd  have  kept  you  here  a 


A  MIXTURE.  179 

minute  if  he  were  home?"  said  Mrs.  Brown. 
"  He  only  stopped  with  my  medicine,  then  he 
went  off  to  the  Squire's ;  said  he'd  be  sure  to 
find  him  home  such  a  stormy  day.  Now,  boys, 
to-night  you  can  begin  school !  Run  up  and 
get  your  other  pants,  Mat,  and  then  bring  my 
work-basket ;  the  knee  needs  mending." 

"  Mother,  you're  too  sick  ;  don't  try  to  do  it,," 
begged  Mat. 

"Do  as  I  tell  you,"  said  Mrs.  Brown,  her 
thin  cheeks  flushing.  "  Oh !  I  am  plenty  well 
enough.  Oh !  you  can't  think  how  much  better 
I  am." 

While  the  Brown  household  was  thus  occu- 
pied, Jack  Brimmer  was  being  interviewed  by 
President  Corbin.  Seated  on  the  edge  of  one 
of  the  stiff  chairs  in  the  private  office,  the  boy 
was  undergoing  all  the  agonies  of  a  face-to-face 
conversation  where  the  other  party  exhibited 
none  of  his  former  friendliness. 

"I  have  taken  a  great  interest  in  you,  Jack." 
Mr.  Corbin  played  with  the  paper-weight,  ran 
his  fingers  lightly  through  a  pile  of  letters,  but 
his  eyes  were  cold,  and  they  froze  the  boy  so 
that  he  bent  his  own  to  the  carpet. 

"  Let  me  see,"  the  measured  tones  were  pro- 


180  TEE  LITTLE  EED  SHOP. 

ceeding,  "  it's  now  some  nine  months,  I  think, 
since  I've  begun  to  watch  you."  Jack  raised 
his  head  involuntarily,  about  to  correct  him. 
Didn't  he  know,  when  every  day  since  the  great 
man  had  first  addressed  him,  had  been  so  much 
the  richer?  But  he  did  not  dare  open  his  mouth 
to  say,  "  It  is  eleven  months  and  a  quarter,  sir." 

"  And  I  —  ahem  —  hoped  "  —  yes,  there  was  an 
emphasis  on  the  verb  —  "  that  you  would  make 
quite  a  man,  Jack.  I  did,  really."  The  great 
man  was  getting  awkward  now  as  the  veriest 
boy,  and  his  fingers  wandering  amid  the  desk 
debris,  turned  over  a  heap  of  loose  papers  that 
fluttered  to  the  floor.  Jack  sprang  and  pjcked 
them  all  up,  and  restored  them  tidily  to  their 
places. 

"Ah!  thank  you,"  said  Mr.  Corbin.  "Sit 
down  again,"  he  added  abruptly,  noticing  a 
hesitancy  on  Jack's  part  which  he  attributed  to 
unwillingaess  for  further  questioning.  "  Yes, 
as  I  was  saying,  I  had  made  some  plans  for  you 
in  my  own  mind,  as  regarded  your  future. 
Jack,  are  you  fond  of  your  books?"  He  was 
astonished  at  himself  for  skimming  away  from 
the  central  point  of  conversation,  when  he  had 
fully  determined  to  make  the  plunge. 


A  MIXTURE.  181 

"  Yes,  sir."  The  boy's  tongue  seemed  to  ad- 
here to  the  roof  of  his  mouth,  so  clumsy  was  it 
to  do  his  bidding.  And  there  was  no  sparkle 
in  the  eye  to  go  with  the  words  and  light  them 
up  a  bit.  Jack  was  puzzled  at  himself,  but  more 
at  the  gentleman  before  him. 

An  awkward  pause  followed.  The  President 
was  just  about  breaking  it  with  a  direct  "  What 
did  you  draw  out  ten  dollars  of  your  money 
for?"  when  the  door  opened,  and  a  director 
entered  ;  «« Excuse  me,  but  I  want  to  see  you  if 
I  can." 

The  president  gave  a  cool  nod  to  the  boy, 
who  sprang  out  of  his  chair  and  was  gone. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

AN    ALARM. 

"TACK  set  his  teeth  hard,  and  clenched  his 
^  brown  hand,  as  he  hurried  off  down  the 
road. 

"Why  did  I  have  to  do  it?"  he  cried  to 
himself :  "  draw  out  that  money,  and  make 
Mr.  Corbin  despise  me "  —  his  cheek  flushed 
— "  and  not  be  able  to  tell  a  syllable  of  the 
reason  ?  I  almost  wish  I'd  let  the  Browns  alone 
with  their  obstinate  father,  whose  pride  is  greater 
than  his  sense." 

He  leaned  over  the  railing  of  the  brook  now, 
and  watched  the  minnows  play  in  the  stream, 
just  as  he  used  to  do  when  he  was  a  little  fellow. 
A  footstep  sounded  on  the  road  ahead  of  him, 
and  the  boy,  looking  up,  saw  Mr.  Thomas  advanc- 
ing. He  slackened  his  pace  as  if  he  were  about 
to  stop  and  enter  into  conversation,  but  think- 
ing better  of  it,  bowed,  and  saying,  "  Having  a 
182 


AN  ALARM.  183 

pleasant  rest,  Jack  ?  "  passed  on  and  was  soon 
out  of  sight. 

The  tall  boy  looked  after  him  darkly.  "  Pleas- 
ant rest  ?  "  he  repeated ;  "  yes,  very  ;  to  be  dis- 
trusted by  those  who  ought  to  be  my  best  friends. 
Well,  I  must  bear  it,"  and  he  tore  himself  away 
from  the  bridge,  and  set  his  face  homewards. 

At  the  door  his  mother  met  him,  and  the 
instant  she  looked  into  his  face  she  knew  that 
a  bitter  moment  had  been  her  boy's,  and  that 
the  ill  news  she  had  to  communicate  should  be 
withheld  till  a  more  opportune  time  came  for 
its  revelation.  So  she  bustled  around  at  her 
work,  never  appearing  to  notice  her  boy,  helped 
him  with  many  a  bright  suggestion  as  to  new 
articles  he  intended  to  send  into  the  city  for  on 
the  morrow,  and  hid  her  aching  heart  as  best 
she  might  under  a  smiling  exterior.  And  Jack 
ran  out  and  worked  savagely  in  the  shop,  re- 
arranging many  things  that  had  been  put  off  for 
several  days  because  there  was  so  much  to  do, 
and  hurrying  up  Rosy  who  was  there  in  attend- 
ance on  customers  to  greater  diligence,  even 
forgetting  once  in  a  while  the  necessary  accom- 
paniment of  good  temper. 

The  little  girl  looked  up  into  his  face  with 


184  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

perplexity,  but  Jack's  grim  face  told  no  tales, 
and  he  only  worked  harder  than  ever.  When 
supper  time  came  lie  sent  word  into  the  house 
that  he  did  not  care  for  any,  which  presently 
brought  his  mother  out  to  The  Little  Red  Shop 
to  see  for  herself  how  matters  were  progress- 
ing there. 

"  Jack,  my  boy,"  she  observed,  seating  herself 
on  a  sack  of  potatoes  in  the  corner,  "  that's  not 
exactly  right,  I  think,  to  go  without  your  meals. 
It  don't  take  long  for  a  break-down  following 
such  a  course.  Come  into  the  house,  dear,  do, 
and  eat  your  supper." 

"Mother,"  cried  Jack,  throwing  down  the 
hammer  with  which  he  was  nailing  up  a  new 
shelf,  and  facing  her,  "  don't  make  me  go,  please 
don't." 

•"I  don't  make  you,  Jacky,"  said  Mother 
Brimmer  with  a  laugh,  "  I  haven't  since  you 
were  that  size,"  putting  out  her  hand  to  mark 
off  the  height  of  a  three-year-old ;  "  I  only  said 
do,  dear." 

"  That's  as  near  making  me  as  if  you'd  ordered 
me  in,"  said  Jack  moodily;  "I  can't  disobey 
your  '  do,  dears'  and  you  know  it,  mother." 

"Yes,  I  believe  I  do,"  acknowledged  Mrs. 


AN  ALARM.  185 

Brimmer,  smoothing  her  apron.  "Well,  now, 
why  can't  you  come  in,  Jack  ?  "  she  looked  at 
him  keenly  and  held  her  breath. 

"  Because  I  shall  break  down,  I'm  afraid,  and 
act  like  a  heathen  before  Corny  and  Rosy,"  cried 
the  boy,  confessing  it  all  in  a  gasp.  "Now  you 
know,  mother ;  don't  ask  me  any  more." 

"  I'll  play  it's  better  to  have  tea  out  here,  for 
once,"  said  his  mother,  reflecting  a  bit,  "and 
you  shall  have  a  bowl  of  hot  mush  here  quicker'n 
you  can  say  *  Jack  Robinson.' "  She  sprang 
from  her  low  seat,  and  before  the  boy  could 
urge  her  not  to  give  herself  that  trouble,  she 
was  off  and  in  the  house. 

It  was  about  fifteen  minutes  after ;  Jack's 
mush  and  milk  having  disappeared  from  the 
big  bowl  that  had  been  set  on  the  counter  by 
his  mother's  hand,  felt  one  degree  better  enabled 
to  look  life  in  the  face,  and  to  confront  his  trouble, 
and  he  even  began  presently  to  whistle,  partly 
to  keep  his  small  stock  of  newly  acquired  spirits 
up,  and  partly  to  delude  the  other  partners  in 
the  firm  into  the  belief  that  the  senior  member 
was  really  light-hearted. 

About  an  hour  after  supper  Mrs.  Brimmer 
came  out  to  the  shop.  "  Corny  and  Rosy,"  she 


186  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

said,  "  will  you  both  go  into  the  house  a  little 
while  ?  I  want  to  talk  with  Jack."  And  sitting 
down,  she  drew  out  her  inevitable  knitting  that 
there  might  be  no  idle  hands. 

The  two  junior  members  withdrew.  It  was 
quite  a  matter  of  course  that  the  mother  and 
Jack  should  confer  together,  and  no  suspicion 
of  jealous  feeling  tormented  them.  Instead  they 
ran  gaily  along  the  old  board  walk  from  the 
shop  to  the  back  porch,  with  the  firm  conviction 
that  everything  was  just  right  in  the  universe, 
and  especially  in  the  corner  of  it  that  was  called 
"  The  Old  Brimmer  Place." 

Mother  Brimmer  was  just  saying  in  her  charac- 
teristic way,  "  I  know  you've  been  seeing  trouble, 
Jack,  and  that  it's  too  soon  for  you  to  tell  me 
what  it  is ;  but  I  can't  wait  with  what  I  ought 
to  say  to  you,  so  you  must  gather  all  the  courage 
together  you  possibly  can,  and,  the  Lord  helping 
us,  we'll  bear  it,  and  maybe  see  a  way  out." 

Jack  stood  quite  still,  every  bit  of  color  desert- 
ing his  cheek. 

"What  is  it,  mother?"  he  asked.  "Don't 
mince  it  a  bit,  but  give  it  to  me  quick." 

"  I  sha'n't  mince  it  a  mite,  you  may  be  sure," 
said  Mrs.  Brimmer  steadily  ;  "you're  a  man  now, 


AN  ALARM.  187 

and  you'll  bear  it  like  a  man.  Jack,  there's  a 
new  store  to  be  set  up  down  here  in  the  old 
Myers'  place  ;  Connors  and  his  boys  are  to  be 
the  proprietors." 

Pale  as  death  now  was  Jack,  and  he  clutched 
the  counter  edge  to  steady  himself.  This  was 
trouble  indeed !  Connors  was  a  man  well-to-do, 
shrewd,  unprincipled  and  active  in  whatever  he 
undertook  to  the  ruin  of  whoever  or  whatever 
stood  in  his  way.  He  owned  and  ran  a  mill  two 
miles  away,  but  was  constantly  on  the  lookout 
to  get  his  three  boys,  aged  fourteen,  fifteen  and 
seventeen  years,  advanced  by  any  means  that 
might  offer  itself.  Here  now  was  his  opportu- 
nity. He  had  watched  with  lynx-eyed  vigilance 
the  business  set  up  by  the  Brimmer  boys,  laughed 
and  derided  it  loudly  when  The  Little  Red  Shop 
was  first  opened  to  customers ;  changed  his 
amusement  to  interest,  and  finally  a  short  time 
before  this  evening  had  slapped  his  thigh  with 
his  coarse  red  hand  and  made  up  his  mind  as 
he  expressed  it  that  his  three  boys  "  should  go 
in  and  bust  up  them  fellows,  and  we'll  have  a 
shop  down  there  ourselves." 

Having  thus  concluded  that  there  was  money 
in  it,  Mr.  Connors,  keeping  his  own  counsel, 


188  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

immediately  bought  an  old  barn  and  one  corner 
of  the  Myers'  estate  on  which  it  stood,  mended, 
altered  and  set  the  building  in  order,  giving  va- 
rious reasons  to  the  curious  Cherryfieldites  who 
with  charming  frankness  aired  their  questions 
as  to  the  why  and  wherefore  of  the  purchase, 
and  so  completely  hoodwinked  them  all,  that  no 
one  suspected  the  real  plan  until  now  Mother 
Brimmer  brought  it  to  Jack. 

"  How  did  you  find  it  out  ?  "  demanded  the 
boy  hoarsely. 

"This  afternoon,  I  went  over  to  Mrs.  Connors; 
she's  been  sick  lately,  and  I  wanted  to  see  how  she 
was.  She  was  dreadfully  excited,  and  couldn't 
keep  it  to  herself,  but  told  me  the  whole  thing. 
The  stock  is  bought,  and  they're  going  to  open 
the  shop  next  week." 

"They  sha'n't!"  cried  Jack  in  a  loud,  excited 
tone,  and  springing  to  the  middle  of  the  floor. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

LIGHT-HEARTED   AGAIN. 

TTOW  are  you  going  to  help  it?"  asked 
—  Mother  Brimmer  in  her  most  practical 
way,  although  her  heart  was  beating  fast  for 
her  boy's  suffering,  and  she  had  great  difficulty 
in  keeping  her  indignation  at  the  disaster 
that  threatened,  from  coming  to  the  surface. 
"  There  isn't  any  law  against  a  new  store  being 
set  up." 

"There  ought  to  be,"  cried  Jack  most  pas- 
sionately, flushing  and  paling  ;  "it's  robbery  — 
worse  than  highway  robbery  —  to  steal  our 
trade  and  get  away  all  our  customers,  as  those 
Connors  will  do.  You  know  them,  mother." 

Mrs.  Brimmer  did ;  but  she  bit  her  lips  and 
kept  from  feeding  the  fire  that  it  was  now  her 
purpose  to  see  go  out.  "  There's  no  use,  Jacky," 
she  said,  with  a  brave  effort  at  cheerfulness,  "  in 
trying  to  meet  an  obstacle  unless  you've  the 
189 


190  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

right  spirit.  That's  half  the  battle,  my  boy, 
and  gives  you  grit  to  see  the  thing  through." 

Jack's  flush  died  down,  and  he  looked  at  his 
mother  resolutely,  drawing  his  breath  hard. 
"  You're  right,  Mamsie,"  he  cried  ;  "  now  let's 
think  and  plan." 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  can't  see  any  way  out," 
began  Mrs.  Brimmer,  feeling  her  way  along 
carefully  and  noting  every  change  in  her  boy's 
face,  "  than  to  have  one  of  the  Connorses  as  a 
partner." 

"  I  wouldn't  do  that,"  declared  Jack,  bring- 
ing his  two  brown  palms  together  with  a  clap, 
"  not  if  it  saved  us  from  failing  the  next  day. 
Mother !  you  can't  ever  want  us  to  be  intimate 
with  those  Connors."  Jack  looked  at  her  with 
wide-eyed  astonishment. 

"  I  can't  say  I  should  relish  it  myself,"  said 
his  mother  coolly,  "  but  it's  the  only  way  out 
that  appears  to  me.  You  can't  tie  the  Con- 
norses up  very  well,  nor  put  an  injunction,  as 
I  see,  on  'em." 

"No,"  said  Jack,  setting  his  teeth. 

"  There  is  one  thing  I  should  do,"  said  Mrs. 
Brimmer  thoughtfully,  "and  that  is,  ask  Mr. 
Corbin's  advice.  He'll"  — 


LIGHT-HEARTED  AGAIN.  191 

"  O,  mother ! "  the  boy's  tone  carried  so 
much  horror  that  instinctively  Mother  Brim- 
mer jumped.  "What's  the  matter?"  she  cried, 
with  startled  eyes. 

"  Mother,  that's  the  trouble  that's  near  about 
killed  me,"  said  Jack  impetuously.  "  I  didn't 
want  to  tell  you ;  you've  got  enough  to  worry 
you,  and  I  thought  I  ought  to  weather  it,  and 
live  it  down.  Mr.  Corbin  don't  believe  in  me." 

"  Mr.  Corbin  don't  believe  in  you  !  "  repeated 
Mrs.  Brimmer  in  amaze.  "  Not  believe  in  my 
boy!"  she  added  proudly,  —  "my  boy,  who's  as 
good  as  a  bank  president,  any  day."  There 
was  no  stopping  her,  as  she  sat  on  her  bag  of 
potatoes  like  a  very  queen,  and  flashing  her 
black  eyes  at  all  imaginary  detractors  of  her 
son's  good  name. 

"  I  don't  know  what  it  is,"  said  Jack,  his  old 
troubled  look  coming  back,  "  unless  he  thinks 
I'm  drawing  out  money  pretty  fast.  But  I 
couldn't  tell  him  about  Mat  and  Reuben." 

"  Oh  !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Brimmer,  as  if  a  pin 
had  been  thrust  into  her,  and  she  started  off 
from  her  bag,  and  began  to  walk  up  and  down 
the  little  shop.  "  To  think  of  my  being  such  a 
dunce !  Of  course  he  lays  that  up  against  you. 


192  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

Well,  he  won't  long,  for  I'll  get  down  to  his 
house  without  letting  the  grass  grow  under  my 
feet,  I  can  tell  you ! " 

"Mother,"  exclaimed  Jack  hastily,  "you 
surely  aren't  going  to  explain  it ;  that  will  look 
so  queer ;  and  how  can  you  tell  about  Mat  and 
Reuben  ;  I  should  be  so  ashamed." 

"  When  it  comes  to  having  my  boys  misun- 
derstood," said  Mrs.  Brimmer  with  her  crispest 
accents,  "it's  no  time  to  mince  matters,  and 
make  things  worse  for  a  little  sentiment.  I 
know  what's  right,  and  if  I  hadn't  been  a  goose 
I  sh'd  have  seen  it  before.  Now  I'm  going  to 
see  Mr."  — 

A  loud  rap  sounded  on  the  door.  Mother 
Brimmer  whirled  around  and  looked  at  Jack, 
as  customers  never  announced  themselves  with 
such  ceremony ;  the  boy  flung  the  door  wide, 
expecting  a  tramp's  call. 

It  was  the  bank  president !  "  Well,  well, 
Jack,"  he  exclaimed,  extending  a  cordial  hand, 
and  stepping  in  by  the  dazed  boy ;  "  this  is  Mrs. 
Brimmer,  I  presume.  I'm  glad  to  meet  you, 
for  Jack  is  such  a  friend  of  mine." 

As  Mother  Brimmer  did  nothing  but  rub  her 
eyes,  trying  to  reconcile  Jack's  words,  with  the 


LIGHT-HEARTED  AGAIN.  193 

sincere  belief  in  her  boy  that  showed  in  every 
gesture  and  word  of  the  great  man,  Mr.  Corbin 
found  a  seat  for  himself,  choosing  the  very  bag 
of  potatoes  that  she  had  deserted. 

"  Oh !  don't  sit  there,  sir,"  cried  Jack,  recov- 
ering himself  to  start  forward ;  "I'll  run  in  the 
house  and  get  you  a  chair. 

"  No,  no,"  remonstrated  the  president,  sitting 
down,  "  it  isn't  the  first  time  I've  sat  on  a  bag 
of  potatoes,  and  been  glad  I  had  as  good  a  seat. 
This  is  quite  fine.  Well,  Jack,"  and  he  cast  a 
glance  around,  "  you  really  have  quite  a  shop 
here.  I've  often  wanted  to  walk  out  here  and 
see  how  you  were  getting  on,  and  this  evening 
I  have  made  it  out." 

Was  it  possible  that  this  was  the  man  who 
with  cold  averted  face,  and  distant  manner,  had 
bowed  Jack  out  of  his  private  office  that  very 
day? 

Jack  stared  at  him  as  if  in  a  dream,  while 
Mr.  Corbin  went  on:  —  "I've  found  out  all 
about  you,  my  boy,  and  let  me  tell  you  that 
I  never  was  so  glad  in  my  life  at  having  my 
confidence  renewed."  Mr.  Corbin  put  out  his 
hand  again,  and  Jack's  palm  being  put  within 
it,  the  boy's  received  a  hearty  grasp,  while  the 


194  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

president's  eyes  sparkled  with  delight.  "  Mat 
and  Reuben  told  me  all  about  it." 

"  Mat  and  Reuben  told  you ! "  repeated 
Jack  in  astonishment,  at  which  Mrs.  Brimmer 
ejaculated, — 

"  Bless  the  Lord !  "  from  the  depths  of  her 
heart. 

"  It  came  about  in  this  way,"  said  Mr.  Cor- 
bin ;  "  I  met  the  boys  at  the  post-office,  just  a 
little  while  ago,  and  as  Mr.  Thomas  told  me 
that  they  went  to  evening  school  (you  know 
their  father  refused  to  let  them  attend  without 
paying),  I  supposed  that  the  old  man  had  con- 
quered his  foolish  pride,  and  so  I  stopped  to 
congratulate  the  lads.  And  then  it  all  came 
out,  Jack." 

Mrs.  Brimmer  clasped  her  hands  and  faced 
the  president. 

"  O,  sir ! "  she  cried,  "  O,  sir !  you  have 
been  the  best  and  kindest  friend  a  boy  ever 
had.  And  now  you've  made  him  twice  over, 
for  after  this  he'll  have  heart  to  bear  his  other 
trouble." 

Mr.  Corbin's  eyes  glistened. 

"What's  the  other  trouble,  Jack?"  he  asked 
quickly. 


LIGHT-HEARTED  AGAIN.  195 

So  all  the  news  as  to  Connors'  projected  store 
was  laid  before  the  president. 

"  Well,  well,"  he  said,  after  it  was  all  out, 
"  that's  the  chief  trouble  of  a  successful  busi- 
ness man  ;  and  you  may  count  .it  a  proof  that 
you  have  made  a  success  of  the  thing,  to  have 
these  fellows  want  to  walk  into  your  profits. 
But  I  know  John  Connors,  and  I  think  I  also 
know  how  to  stop  his  little  game.  How  many 
families  trade  here  pretty  regularly,  my  boy  ?  " 
added  the  president. 

Jack  sprang  for  his  list  in  an  old  box  nailed 
up  over  the  counter. 

"Thirty-two,  sir,"  he  said,  counting  as  he 
came  back. 

"  Well,  I  declare,  that's  a  good  trade.  Now 
you  shall  have  every  one  of  these  loyal  to  you, 
if  it's  in  my  power  to  make  them  so,"  cried  Mr. 
Corbin.  "  Give  the  list  to  me,  and  don't  worry, 
Mrs.  Brimmer,"  folding  the  paper  and  slipping 
it  into  a  great  red  note-book ;  "  your  boy  isn't 
going  to  have  the  trade  he's  worked  up,  taken 
right  out  of  his  hands  in  this  way,  mark  my 
words." 

"It  will  be  all  right  if  you  see  to  it,  sir," 
said  Mother  Brimmer  thankfully;  "but  what 


196  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

we  should  have  done  without  you,  I  can  not 
tell." 

"I  shall  also  enlist  the  parson  and  Miss 
Peaseley  in  the  good  work,"  said  the  president, 
getting  off  from  his  potato-bag.  "  Now,  good- 
night! I'm  going  to  look  out  for  the  interests 
of  The  Little  Red  Shop." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

STANCH   FEIENDS   INDEED. 

TTTITH  President  Corbin,  Parson  Higgin- 
*  son  and  Miss  Peaseley  arrayed  in  battle 
order  for  the  success  of  The  Little  Red  Shop, 
it  was  clearly  ordained  that  Connors'  new  store 
could  not  thrive.  Moreover,  when  friends  and 
neighbors  knew  that  the  thirty-two  families  who 
were  regular  customers  of  Brimmer  Brothers 
and  Company  had  all  stanchly  pledged  their 
future  support,  everybody  else  became  possessed 
with  a  desire  to  trade  there,  too.  So  that  for 
the  week  following  there  was  a  perfect  rush  to 
the  shop,  and  Mother  Brimmer  had  to  hurry 
through  her  housework,  and  run  out  to  help  tie 
bundles  and  take  orders.  Then  it  was  that  the 
two  Brown  boys  were  engaged  as  clerks,  making 
their  poor  sick  mother  to  rejoice  greatly,  and 
declare  she  should  soon  be  well,  since  there  was 
a  chance  of  help  coining  to  the  father,  who 
>97 


198  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

was  working  with  might  and  main  to  lift  the 
dreadful  mortgage. 

And  Miss  Clorinda  sent  over  three  or  four 
times  a  day  for  things  she  did  not  want,  beside 
getting  another  woman  to  help  Betty  make 
double  the  amount  of  doughnuts,  for  they  were 
going  off  literally  like  "hot  cakes,"  while,  as 
for  the  butter,  the  firm  could  not  begin  to 
supply  the  demand. 

The  trouble  that  Connors  and  his  sons  hoped 
to  make  for  The  Little  Red  Shop,  proved  to  be 
the  greatest  blessing  that  ever  fell  upon  a  strug- 
gling business,  and  cemented  as  nothing  else 
could  have  done,  the  friendship  between  the 
Brimmers  and  their  faithful  helpers.  And  it 
seemed  to  make  a  man  at  once  of  Jack,  who, 
made  very  humble  by  the  want  of  faith  he  had 
shown,  was  kept  from  pride  now  that  every- 
thing seemed  to  be  on  the  pinnacle  of  success. 
It  did  the  hearts  of  all  good  just  to  look  at  the 
boy,  and  realize  that  here  indeed  was  one  of 
Cherryfield's  rising  citizens. 

Corny  had  more  difficulty  to  keep  within 
bounds,  and  his  mother  warned  him  that  it 
would  be  a  great  temptation  for  him  not  to  be 
puffed  up  at  this  sudden  rise  in  fortune. 


STANCH  FRIENDS  INDEED.  199 

"  If  you  do  put  on  airs,  I  shall  be  sorry  you 
haven't  Connors'  store  thriving  across  the  way," 
she  said  decidedly ;  "  nothing  can  be  worse 
than  to  have  one  of  my  boys  spoiled." 

And  Cornelius  promised  quickly  that  he 
never,  never  would  "talk  big"  in  all  the  world, 
and  then  the  next  thing  he  knew  he  was  biting 
his  lip  to  keep  back  the  words  rushing  out 
when  some  of  his  friends  dropped  in  to  see 
them. 

It  really  began  to  look  like  a  big  business, 
this  begun  so  simply  in  The  Little  Red  Shop, 
and  the  bank  account  grew  apace,  and  Mr. 
Corbin's  face  was  wreathed  in  smiles  whenever 
he  looked  at  Jack,  and  Corny  began  to  dream 
wildly  o'  nights  of  Jack's  being  asked  to  be  a 
director  in  the  bank,  and  all  things  went  on 
merrily  from  week's  end  to  week's  end. 

And  the  tucks  in  Rosy's  dresses  had  to  be  let 
down,  and  Mother  Brimmer  sighed  one  day 
and  said  she  had  lost  her  little  girl,  for  Company 
was  braiding  up  her  long  hair,  and  begging  to 
pin  it  high  on  her  head. 

"  I  don't  want  to  be  big,  Mamsie,"  said  Rosy, 
"  only  it's  in  the  way." 

"  I  suppose  you  may,"  said  Mother  Brimmer, 


20:)  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

with  another  long  sigh,  "  but  I'm  sorry  all  the 
same." 

"  Then  it  shall  hang  down  my  back  forever," 
cried  Rosy  merrily,  and,  her  cheeks  aflame, 
"  O,  Mamsie !  I  want  to  be  your  little  girl 
always,"  and  she  threw  her  arms  around  the 
comfortable  neck. 

"  And  you  always  shall,"  declared  Mrs.  Brim- 
mer, drawing  her  close,  "  and  here's  my  baby," 
as  Primrose,  watching  the  unwonted  spectacle 
out  of  grave  eyes,  deserted  her  doll,  and  rushed 
for  the  comfortable  lap ;  "  Mother  never'll  forget 
to  save  room  for  her." 

About  this  time,  three  persons  were  holding 
a  conclave  in  the  minister's  study.  They  were 
Miss  Clorinda  Peaseley,  Mr.  Corbin  and  the 
parson  himself. 

"  It's  high  time,"  announced  Miss  Peaseley  in 
a  high  key,  "  that  the  work  was  begun.  You 
haven't  set  about  it  a  moment  too  spon,  Mr. 
Corbin." 

"  No,  indeed,"  said  the  president. 

"  Well,  now,  as  I  understand  it,"  said  Parson 
Higginson,  leaning  back  in  his  study  chair,  and 
folding  his  hands  ministerially,  "you  two," 
bowing  to  the  president  and  Miss  Peaseley,  his 


STANCH  FRIENDS  INDEED.  201 

good  parishioners,  "are  proposing  to  build  this 
shop,  and  give  it  rent  free  to  the  Brimmers  — 
they  to  be  allowed  to  buy  it  whenever  they  wish, 
at  the  fair  cost  of  the  materials  and  labor?" 

"  That  is  our  proposal,"  said  Mr.  Corbin. 

"  How  I  wish  I  had  some  filthy  lucre,"  sighed 
the  parson,  "  that  I  might  help  on  this  under- 
taking." 

"  Nonsense !  "  exclaimed  the  president  with 
a  laugh,  who  said  pretty  much  what  he  wanted 
to  to  his  pastor.  "  You've  done  more  than  all 
of  us  put  together,  by  your  example  to  those 
good  people." 

"  Example  does  very  well,"  said  the  parson, 
"  but  material  help  is  not  to  be  despised." 

"  Which  is  our  part,"  cried  Miss  Clorinda 
sharply.  "  Why,  you'd  put  us  out  in  the  cold, 
and  leave  us  nothing  to  contribute,"  which  raised 
a  great  shout  at  the  president's  and  her  own 
expense.  But  Miss  Clorinda  cared  little  for 
that. 

"  I  think  we'd  better  give  the  work  to 
Crocker,"  said  Mr.  Corbin,  when  the  laugh  died 
down.  "  He  needs  it  very  badly.  And  nothing 
would  please  Jack  more  than  to  help  up  an- 
other poor  struggling  soul." 


202  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

"  You'll  have  that  boy  in  the  bank  with  yon, 
first  thing  you  know,"  said  the  parson  suddenly, 
with  almost  as  wild  dreams  as  Corny. 

"  No,  I  shall  not,"  said  the  president  quickly, 
"  unless  my  opinions  are  changed  by  Jack's 
decided  talent  for  banking.  He  has  made  a 
business ;  let  him  stick  to  it,  is  my  creed." 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  remarked 
Miss  Peaseley,  twisting  in  her  chair  to  get  a 
better  view  of  the  president's  face,  "  for  I  must 
say  I've  been  worried  dreadfully  for  fear  that 
yon  were  going  to  make  him  dissatisfied  with 
the  grocery  business,  and,  as  you  say,  he's  made 
it,  so  I  did  want  to  see  him  stick  to  it  like  a 
Christian." 

"  And  he  shall ;  you  need  not  give  another 
thought  toward  me  as  a  meddler,"  said  Mr. 
Corbin  ;  "look  over  at  the  parson,  rather.  He's 
had  his  eye  on  him,  I  suspect,  for  the  pulpit." 

"  I  must  confess  to  some  leaning  that  way," 
said  Mr.  Higginson.  "  What  a  capital  preacher 
he'd  make!" 

"  He  can  preach  back  of  that  counter  of 
his,"  cried  Miss  Clorinda  sharply  again.  "  I'd 
like  to  know  if  it  don't  take  grace  not  to  sift 
sand  into  sugar  and  sell  it  at  ten  cents  a  pound, 


STANCH  FRIENDS  INDEED.  203 

and  to  keep  from  watering  the  milk  when  you 
know  you  lose  money  by  it  —  say  ?  " 

"  You  are  quite  correct,"  said  Parson  Hig- 
ginson,  "it  takes  grace,  indeed." 

"  Well,  then,  promise  to  keep  hands  off  from 
the  boy,  won't  you?"  cried  Miss  Clorinda 
earnestly.  "  If  Mr.  Corbin  won't  influence  him, 
you  ought  to  let  him  alone.  I'm  a  great  deal 
more  afraid  of  you,"  she  added. 

"  I  promise,"  said  the  parson,  laughing,  "only  I 
shall  be  glad  to  see  the  day  when  Jack  will  come 
to  me  and  say,  '  I  am  going  to  be  a  minister.' '' 

"Well,  that  day  won't  ever  come,"  flatly 
declared  Miss  Peaseley  ;  "  for  that  boy  is  going 
to  show  that  a  business  can  be  made  and  carried 
on  in  a  Christian  way.  You  see  if  he  isn't." 

And  then  they  lapsed  into  a  talk  over  the 
plans  for  the  new  building,  which  were  to  be 
very  secret  indeed. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    SECRET. 

|_)RIMROSE  rushed  in  flushed  and  panting. 
-*-  It  was  baking  day,  and  there  was  a  huge 
fire  roaring  up  the  chimney. 

"O,  Mamsie!"  it  was  all  the  child  could 
say,  as  she  threw  herself  up  against  the  hands 
carrying  a  pie  across  the  floor  to  the  brick 
oven. 

"  Take  care,  child  !  This  is  too  full  of  juice. 
You  almost  threw  that  over  ! " 

"  Are  we  to  be  very  awful  rich  ?  "  cried  Prim- 
rose, with  sparkling  eyes.  "  Very,  Mamsie  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer ;  "  we  never  shall 
be  rich  at  all,  Prim."  Then  she  stooped  down, 
slipped  her  pie  in,  got  up  and  wiped  off  the 
few  drops  of  juice  trickling  over  her  apron. 

The  child  stopped  short,  her  cheek  paling. 
"Why,  Mamsie?" 

"You   see,   we   are    working    people,"   said 
204 


THE  SECRET.  205 

Mother  Brimmer  cheerily,  "  and  so  we  don't 
expect  to  have  fortunes  left  us.  I  sh'd  rather 
work  for  what  I  got,"  she  added  proudly. 

Primrose  slowly  surveyed  her  with  grave 
eyes,  her  small  face  working ;  realizing  that  the 
disappointment  into  which  she  had  been  so 
suddenly  plunged,  was  fast  gaining  on  her,  she 
turned  an  abrupt  back  on  her  mother,  and  at 
last  took  refuge  behind  her  pink  gingham 
apron. 

"Who's  been  talking  to  you,"  asked  Mrs. 
Brimmer,  her  black  eyes  scanning  keenly  the 
little  face,  "  to  put  such  ideas  into  your  head, 
I  sh'd  like  to  know?" 

"  Everybody,"  said  Primrose,  swallowing  fast 
to  keep  from  an  outbreak  of  woe. 

"  Everybody  ?  Well,  now  begin.  In  the 
first  place,"  Mrs.  Brimmer  sat  down  in  the 
nearest  chair  she  could  find,  "come  to  mother,** 
holding  out  her  hand.' 

Primrose  turned  and  plunged  across  the 
kitchen,  hiding  her  face  in  the  depths  of  the 
comfortable  lap. 

"  Mat  —  and  —  Reuben  —  Brown  —  told  — 
me  "  —  she  gasped.  "  Sha'n't  —  we  —  ever  — 
be  —  rich  ?  "  And  at  last  the  tears  came. 


206  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

"There,  there,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  with 
soothing  pats  on  the  yellow  head.  "  I  suppose 
it  seems  to  those  poor  boys  as  if  the  business 
was  going  to  make  us  rich  folks.  But  it  won't, 
child ;  only  it  will  get  you  all  your  education, 
and  that  will  make  the  Old  Brimmer  Place 
better  than  a  castle." 

"What  is  a  castle?"  asked  Primrose,  sud- 
denly pausing  in  the  midst  of  a^ob. 

"Oh!  a  big  stone  building,  where  there  are 
plenty  of  princesses  in  it,"  said  Mrs.  Brimmer 
—  "  that  is,  it's  big  enough  to  hold  'em  —  and 
where  they  all  eat  off  gold  plates  every  day." 

"  Oh !  oh ! "  screamed  Primrose.  Then  she 
asked  with  sudden  awe,  "Are  they  live  folks 
who  live  there  ?  Real  live  little  girls  like  me  ?  " 

"  La,  yes ! "  said  Mrs.  Brimmer  with  a  laugh. 
"  They're  nothing  but  flesh  and  blood  when  all 
is  said,  just  like  common  folks.  And  they're  not 
half  so  happy  as  we  are,  Prim ;  they  fight  and 
quarrel  most  every  day  with  somebody." 

"What  do  they  fight  for?"  demanded  the 
child,  with  wide-eyed  astonishment,  "  if  they've 
got  gold  plates." 

"  Because  they  want  diamond  ones,  I  sup- 
pose," said  Mrs.  Brimmer,  "  or  something  else 


THE  SECRET.  207 

that  they  don't  happen  to  have.  There,  now, 
go  to  play,  child  ;  mother  must  fly  to  her  bak- 
ing." She  glanced  at  the  old  clock  in  the  cor- 
ner, and  bustled  out  of  her  chair. 

Primrose  slowly  went  out  of  the  kitchen,  and 
sat  down  on  the  back  steps  to  think  it  all  out  by 
herself. 

"  Hulloo,  Prim  ! "  sang  out  a  boy. 

And  "Hulloo,  Prim!"  as  another  boy  fol- 
lowed around  the  corner  of  the  house. 

"  I  know  all  about  prinscissors  !  "  cried  the 
child  excitedly,  and  springing  to  her  feet ; 
"  they  live,  oh  !  in  the  biggest  houses,  and  they 
fight  about  gold  plates,  —  and  I'd  rather  live  in 
the  old  Brimmer  House." 

"  I  should  think  you  would,"  cried  one  of  the 
boys.  "  The  Brimmer  House  is  the  jolliest  old 
place  in  all  Cherryfield." 

"  What  in  the  world  do  you  mean  by  prin- 
scissors?"  cried  the  other. 

"  I  know,"  cried  Primrose,  with  her  most  im- 
portant air,  and  shaking  her  yellow  head,  "I 
know." 

"  Well,  run  in  and  tell  Jack  and  Corny  to 
hurry  out.  We've  got  something  to  tell  'em. 
Mr.  Thomas  sent  us." 


208  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

"Jack  and  Corny  aren't  at  home,"  said 
Primrose,  descending  to  her  ordinary  manner. 
"They're  over  to  the  mill.  I  heard  'em  tell 
Mamsie  they  were  going." 

"  Come  on,  then,  if  that's  the  case,"  said  the 
first  boy ;  "  no  use  in  waiting  here,"  and  they 
dashed  off. 

Meanwhile  an  animated  conversation  was 
going  on  in  the  parson's  study. 

"Whatever  shall  we  do!"  cried  Miss  Clor- 
inda  Peaseley,  trembling  with  excitement. 
"  Here  the  foundation  of  our  building  is  only 
made,  and  the  whole  air  of  Cherryfield  is  full 
of  the  secret  that  we  three  promised  faithfully 
to  keep.  However  did  it  get  out  ?" 

"  As  you  say,"  replied  Mr.  Higginson,  "  the 
air  is  full  of  it.  I've  always  noticed  when  no 
one  tells  a  profound  secret,  that  it  is  the  quick- 
est out.  What  shall  we  do  now  that  it  has 
escaped  us  ?  That  is  the  question."  He  glanced 
over  at  the  president. 

"  John  Peavey  asked  me  point-blank  this 
very  morning,"  said  Mr.  Corbin,  "  if  I  was  not 
putting  up  that  building  .for  the  Brimmer 
boys." 

"  And  Mrs.  Tousey  says  she  knows,  absolutely 


THE  SECRET.  209 

knows,  that  I  am  doing  it  for  them,"  cried  Miss 
Clorinda  with  a  laugh. 

"  Nobody  suspects  me  of  such  a  thing,"  said 
the  parson,  "but  I  have  been  questioned  by  at 
least  a  dozen  separate  and  distinct  persons 
within  the  last  week  if  I  am  not  aiding  and 
abetting  you  two  in  the  work.  As  you  say, 
Miss  Clorinda,  the  air  is  full  of  our  secret." 

"And  if  we  don't  look  out  the  Brimmers 
will  hear  it,"  exclaimed  Miss  Peaseley  excitedly. 
"  Now,  what's  to  be  done  ?  That's  what  I'd 
like  to  know." 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    SECRET   IS    OUT. 

~TV  /TR.  THOMAS  walked  rapidly  up  and 
-^  -*-  down  the  schoolroom  in  a  great  state 
of  excitement.  Never  since  he  could  remem- 
ber had  he  felt  so  stirred  up  in  his  mind.  It 
was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  he  held 
himself  in  check  while  thinking  of  the  arrival 
of  the  boys  and  girls,  so  soon  to  gather  for 
evening  school.  He  folded  his  hands  together 
in  front  of  him,  and  held  them  there,  deco- 
rously trying  to  observe  the  calm  demeanor  he 
was  far  from  feeling.  But  that  being  no  suc- 
cess £>  speak  of,  he  twitched  them  apart,  and 
swung  each  one  nervously  by  his  side.  This 
not  seeming  to  suit  his  ideas  as  to  the  dignity 
a  teacher  should  wear  when  confronted  by  a 
pupil,  he  vainly  essayed  crossing  them  com- 
posedly on  his  breast  as  he  brought  his  pace 
down  to  a  meditative  step.  But  the  latter 

210 


THE  SECRET  18  OUT.  211 

pose  proving  as  utter  a  failure  as  before,  he 
fell  back  into  his  old  swinging  gait,  and  let 
his  arms  go  as  they  would. 

Accordingly,  he  was  just  in  the  heat  of  the 
ferment  that  possessed  him,  when  the  door 
cautiously  opened,  and  he  was  conscious  that  a 
head  was  intruded  into  the  apartment. 

"  Come  in,  boys,"  he  called,  struggling  with 
the  confusion  into  which  he  was  now  thrown 
at  being  thus  discovered ;  "  you're  a  bit  early, 
aren't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am,"  answered  Miss  Clorinda  Pease- 
ley  ;  "  and  I  did  it  a-purpose.  Are  you  sure 
everything  is  ready  —  that  your  scholars  won't 
get  at  it  before  you  are  ready  to  march  ?  Steady 
now,  Mr.  Thomas,"  she  said,  coming  in  and 
going  quite  close  to  the  teacher,  whom  she 
scrutinized  most  exhaustively.  "  I'm  afraid 
you'll  let  it  out  yet,"  she  concluded  anxiously. 

"  I'm  a  bit  shaken,"  said  Mr.  Thomas,  "  and 
that's  the  truth.  You  see  it's  long  since  I've 
been  in  any  such  secret,  and  I've  worked  pretty 
hard,  and  it's  got  a  little  the  best  of  me.  But 
I  have  fifteen  minutes  yet "  —  he  glanced  at 
the  clock — "before  the  pupils  come,  and  I 
think  I'll  come  out  of  it  all  right." 


212  TUE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

"  What  are  Greek  roots  good  for,"  said  Miss 
Clorinda,  a  trifle  contemptuously,  "  if  they  don't 
help  you  to  bear  a  strain  like  this  one  ?  or  all 
your  everlasting  sums  in  arithmetic;  if  you 
can't  subtract  from  your  nerves,  and  add  to 
your  self-control,  I  should  say  there  was  some- 
thing else  to  learn,"  she  added  quite  plainly. 

"True,  true,"  assented  the  schoolteacher, 
"  yet  if  they  do  not  help  me  when  a  big  excite- 
ment comes,  like  to-day,  they're  a  deal  of  com- 
fort every  day." 

"That  may  be,"  retorted  the  spinster,  "but 
if  I'd  stuck  to  a  Greek  root  and  my  algebra 
year  in  and  year  out,  as  you  have,  I  wouldn't 
let  'em  leave  me  in  the  lurch  in  a  pinch  like 
this  one.  Well,  well,  however,  that's  neither 
here  nor  there.  Time's  getting  on,  and  all 
your  young  brood  will  whoop  over  the  stairs 
before  any  one  can  say  '  Jack  Robinson.'  Here 
they  come  now  ! "  she  announced.  "  Don't 
look  as  if  you  were  going  to  have  your  picture 
taken,  as  the  photograph  man  says,  but  think 
of  something  else,  and  smile  real  pleasant." 

The  schoolmaster,  on  that,  executed  a  most 
unhappy  grin,  and  thereupon  presented  a  coun- 
tenance so  unlike  his  own,  that  three  or  four 


THE   SECRET  IS   OUT.  213 

small  boys  "  whooping  in  "  immediately  turned 
and  fastened  their  gaze  upon  him,  as  if  they 
would  read  him  through  and  through. 

"Go  to  your  seats,  Jones  and  Wilcox,"  he 
said  spasmodically,  and  motioning  Miss  Pease- 
ley  to  a  seat,  he  put  himself  back  of  his  desk, 
and  with  no  further  concern  about  his  visitor, 
he  began  to  arrange  his  desk. 

"  Oh !  I  can't  stay,"  said  Miss  Clorinda  airily, 
and  looking  as  inscrutably  wise  as  it  was  pos- 
sible for  a  woman  lo  look  who  was  denied  the 
use  of  her  tongue.  "  Betsey  will  be  setting  the 
house  on  fire  like  as  not,  if  I  don't  hurry  home. 
Well,  you  be  there  sharp,  remember,"  and 
flashing  him  another  glance  from  her  sharp 
gray  eyes,  she  bustled  out  of  the  room  as  a 
small  delegation  of  boys  and  girls  rushed  over 
the  stairs. 

"  I  will,"  promised  Mr.  Thomas  after  her. 

"  Something's  up,"  whispered  Carter  and 
Jones,  back  of  their  spelling  books  ;  "  did  you 
ever  see  him  look  so  ?  My !  do  you  s'pose 
he's  going  to  marry  her  ?  "  breathed  Jones  in  a 
startled  way. 

Carter  burst  out  laughing,  which  so  irritated 
Mr.  Thomas,  as  the  sound  reached  him,  that  he 


214  THE  LITTLE  RED  SHOP. 

brought  down  his  paper  cutter  sharply  on  the 
desk,  with  a  "  Silence,  boys  !  "  that  effectually 
stopped  their  amusement.  But  the  other  boys 
had  caught  the  infection  of  the  excitement,  and 
were  now  studying  closely  Mr.  Thomas  and 
his  erratic  movements  to  their  hearts'  content. 
The  result  was  that  he  was  twice  as  nervous 
as  before,  and  felt  that  to  hear  lessons  with 
any  sort  of  composure  would  be  beyond  him 
altogether. 

"  Pupils,"  he  said  suddenly,  and  putting 
down  his  book,  "I  am  going  to  throw  myself 
on  your  mercy.  Don't  look  questions  at  me  ; 
I'm  not  equal  to  lessons  to-night.  You  may 
study  by  yourselves ;  I  shall  leave  you  on  your 
honor  for  an  hour,"  and  he  took  up  his  hat  and 
shot  out  of  the  room. 

The  scholars  stared  wildly  at  each  other  for 
the  space  of  a  moment,  and  then  the  uproar 
began.  Chairs  were  pushed  back  from  desks, 
and  books  thrown  down  to  lie  where  they  drop- 
ped. Every  boy  found  his  feet,  and  a  high 
hilarity  reigned  among  them  all. 

"  This  isn't  much  like  being  on  honor,  now," 
said  one  boy,  pausing  to  take  breath. 

"  It's  the  first  shock  of   the  surprise,"  said 


THE  SECRET  IS   OUT.  215 

another,  the  leader  in  all  new  enterprises ; 
"come  on  a  bit,  then  we'll  sober  down." 

But  the  other  boy  would  not  "  come  on,"  and, 
the  girls  setting  the  example,  the  fun  slacken- 
ing, the  room  soon  quieted  down,  and  a  sem- 
blance to  study  was  begun,  each  scholar  keeping 
a  steady  eye  on  the  clock. 

Mr.  Thomas,  out  in  the  open  air,  turned  down 
Main  Street,  walking  rapidly,  and  with  a  sort 
of  exultant  defiance  in  his  singular  action. 
Swinging  around  the  corner,  he  came  suddenly 
upon  two  gentlemen  walking  slowly  in  an  oppo- 
site direction,  and  conversing  as  they  went. 

"  Beg  pardon,"  he  began  awkwardly. 

«Hey  ?  — O,  Thomas,  that  you?"  cried  Presi- 
dent Corbin,  dropping  the  arm  of  his  friend. 

"What !  not  in  school?"  exclaimed  the  min- 
ister in  amazement. 

"  I  was  so  nervous,"  confessed  Mr.  Thomas, 
"thinking  of  the  whole  thing,  and  afraid  I 
shouldn't  do  my  part  well,  that  I  left  the 
scholars  to  study  by  themselves,  and  got  out 
into  the  open  air." 

Mr.  Corbin  and  the  parson  burst  into  a  laugh. 

"  We're  not  much  better,"  they  cried.  "  Blesa 
me  !  "  added  the  president,  "  I  haven't  been  so 


216  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

excited  since  I  was  a  little  shaver,  and  got  my 
first  top." 

"  Well,"  said  the  schoolteacher,  drawing  a 
long  breath,  "I'm  thankful  it's  nearly  over. 
I've  almost  let  it  out  at  least  a  hundred  times." 

"  Have  the  Brimmer  boys  and  Rosy  come 
into  school?"  inquired  the  president. 

"  No ;  but  they're  sure  to  be  there,"  said  Mr. 
Thomas.  "  See  ;  it's  only  half-past  seven  now. 
Oh  !  they're  sure  to  be  there,"  he  repeated. 

"  Still  it's  quite  necessary  to  be  certain 
about  it,"  said  Mr.  Higginson.  "  Wouldn't 
you  better  run  back  and  reconnoiter,  and 
bring  us  word?" 

Mr.  Thomas  turned  on  his  heel.  "  I  suppose 
so,"  he  said.  "  I  hope  no  one  will  catch  me 
making  observations." 

So  while  the  others,  like  a  couple  of  conspir- 
ators, waited  under  cover  of  a  tall  building,  he 
retraced  his  steps,  and  mounting  the  back  stairs, 
took  advantage  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of 
the  premises,  to  step  into  a  closet  that  held  a 
fcmall  window  opening  into  the  main  room, 
Here  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  quickly  perceiv- 
ing the  three  Brimmers,  studying  away  as  vigi- 
lantly as  if  the  eye  of  their  master  was  upon 


THE  SECRET  IS  OUT.  217 

them ;  as  indeed  it  was,  though  they  did  not 
know  it.  Mr.  Thomas  therefore  took  himself 
down  from  his  post  of  observation,  and  soon 
joined  his  two  confreres  where  they  were  im- 
patiently awaiting  him. 

"  It  isn't  hard  for  us  to  make  up  our  minds 
where  we  will  walk  this  evening,"  observed  the 
president  facetiously,  and  linking  his  arm  to 
that  of  his  pastor  again. 

"  I  declare,  it's  the  sightliest  place  in  all 
Cherryfield,"  said  Mr.  Higginson  enthusiasti- 
cally, as  all  three  paused  in  front  of  a  sub- 
stantial foundation  of  a  building  that  in  the 
moonlight  gave  to  a  vivid  imagination,  promise 
of  a  fine  structure  that  should  overtop  the 
loftiest  ones  yet  in  the  town. 

"  Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company  will  look 
well  on  the  central  door,  now  won't  it?"  broke 
out  the  schoolmaster  excitedly. 

"  Hush  !  hush !  even  now  it  might  creep  out," 
warned  the  president. 

Mr.  Thomas  hugged  himself  with  his  long 
arms,  and  shut  his  lips  fast. 

"  It's  eight  o'clock,"  he  said  as  a  relief,  and 
pulling  out  his  watch,  "  almost  time  to  go  back 
and  marshal  the  boys." 


218  THE  LITTLE  BED  SHOP. 

"  And  for  us  to  gather  our  forces,"  said  the 
president.  "  Come,  pastor,"  and  he  led  him 
away,  "  we'll  be  at  the  corner  precisely  at 
eight-thirty." 

"  All  right."  Mr.  Thomas  skipped  back  like 
a  boy,  ran  up  the  stairs,  and  presented  himself 
among  his  pupils  with  such  shining  eyes  that 
all  greeted  him  with  a  spontaneous  "  Hurrah  !  " 

"  Oh  !  you  needn't  cheer  me,"  cried  the  mas- 
ter hilariously,  "  you'll  have  enough  cheering 
to  do  before  the  evening's  out  —  hem  !  I  mean, 
you  may  all  put  aside  your  books  and  look  at 
me."  Which  indeed  they  could  not  very  well 
help  doing. 

"  Hem !  I  want  you  all  to  take  a  little  walk 
with  me.  That  is,  we  will  march  —  where?  I 
will  tell  you  at  the  proper  time.  You  are  not 
to  ask  me  questions.  You  are  not  even  to 
imagine  the  surprise  in  store  for  you ;  you  are 
simply  to  obey  commands,  and,  at  the  signal, 
to  fall  into  step.  It  is  now  seventeen  minutes 
past  eight."  Mr.  Thomas  pulled  out  his  long- 
suffering  watch  once  more.  "  At  eight-thirty 
precisely,  you  will  lay  aside  your  books,  and 
form  a  line,  two  and  two.  Brimmer,"  the  mas- 
ter nodded  to  the  tall  boy  over  in  the  corner, 


THE  SECRET  IS  OUT.  219 

"  will  you  and  Corny  lead  the  procession  ?  The 
rest  can  fall  into  line  as  you  like." 

Then  the  master,  his  face  overflowing  with  a 
secret  excitement  that  would  not  let  him  con- 
ceal his  joy,  busied  himself  about  his  own 
affairs,  and  left  the  boys  to  get  ready  for  the 
great  denouement  as  they  best  could. 

And  on  the  minute  exactly,  the  "  Thomas 
School "  deserted  their  classroom,  turned  their 
backs  on  their  studies,  and  set  forth,  winding 
down  the  stairs  in  a  bewildered  state  of  mind, 
but  in  an  orderly  procession.  Mr.  Thomas,  as 
was  proper,  led  the  way. 

It  was  like  a  silent  army  going  out  to  possess 
a  sleeping  garrison.  No  one  was  there  to  watch 
their  march,  because  no  one  had  been  apprised 
of  their  coming.  As  simply  as  if  it  were  one 
boy  leaving  the  school,  the  long  line  moved 
down  the  stairs  and  out  of  the  building ;  as 
steadily  and  quickly  as  if  a  campaign  were 
planned,  by  a  sure  hand  and  clear  head,  the 
silent  procession  went  its  way  to  the  corner, 
where,  under  cover  of  some  tall  buildings,  stood 
a  group  that  soon  announced  their  intention  of 
joining  in  the  march. 

"How  do  you  do?"  cried  President  Corbin, 


220  THE  LITTLE  RED   SHOP. 

bowing  profusely  to  the  ranks.  "  Thank  you ! 
I  believe  I  will  go,  too,"  and  he  fell  into  step 
just  back  of  the  master. 

"No,  no,  sir,"  protested  Mr.  Thomas,  exe- 
cuting a  skillful  pas  seul  by  which  he  achieved 
a  position  in  the  rear  of  the  moneyed  man, 
"  your  place  is  in  front." 

"  At  least  I  shall  be  supported  by  the  clergy," 
said  Mr.  Corbin,  drawing  Mr.  Higginson  for- 
ward. 

"  And  Miss  Peaseley,  too,"  said  the  parson, 
offering  her  his  arm ;  "  you  can  allow  three 
abreast,  can't  you,  as  leaders?" 

"  Nonsense ! "  said  Miss  Clorinda,  whose  evi- 
dent great  satisfaction  would  not  allow  her  to 
be  other  than  blunt-spoken,  "  you  two  go  ahead  ; 
no  woman  ever  led  an  army  well,  so  far  as  I've 
heard,  except  Joan  of  Arc,  and  goodness  me !  " 
with  a  short  laugh,  "  I'm  not  much  like  her. 
I'm  going  with  you,  Mrs.  Brimmer." 

And  there,  to  be  sure,  was  Mother  Brimmer 
advancing  from  the  shadow  of  a  tree-trunk 
into  the  bright  moonlight.  Jack,  Cornelius  and 
Rosalie  now  rubbed  their  eyes  violently,  but 
there  was  no  time  to  explain,  hardly  to  wonder. 
The  president  was  fast  giving  out  his  orders. 


THE  SECRET  IS   OUT.  221 

"  Attention  !  "  he  said,  in  a  low  voice ;  "  we 
don't  want  to  attract  a  crowd,  so  we'll  be  as 
quiet  as  possible.  Now  follow  us."  They 
passed  the  word  along,  and  with  that,  he  and 
the  parson  set  off  at  marching  pace,  until 
they  brought  the  line  up  in  true  soldierly 
fashion  in  the  open  lot  on  the  corner,  where 
workmen  had  for  some  time  been  laying  a 
foundation  for  a  building,  to  be  used  for  what 
purpose,  no  one  in  Cherryfield  seemed  to  know. 

The  boys  of  the  "Thomas  School"  had 
fretted  a  bit  at  the  land  being  now  built  upon. 
It  had  been  an  excellent  place  for  a  ball  ground 
and  a  tennis  court;  and  it  was  so  near  the 
center  of  the  town  as  to  be  a  good  meeting 
place  for  all  their  number.  Aside  from  that 
regret,  everybody  was  glad  of  the  enterprise 
that  would  set  in  motion  a  new  improvement 
in  real  estate. 

But  though  all  means  such  as  are  generally 
employed  had  been  used  freely  to  find  out  who 
were  the  men  behind  this  building  operation, 
or  why  the  work  was  to  be  done,  no  one  had 
actually  found  out  the  fact,  or  could  say  that 
any  of  the  numerous  surmises  was  the  truth. 

Xow  to-night,  in  the  bright  moonlight,  drawn 


222  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

around  the  spot  in  a  large  circle,  the  "  Thomas 
School"  were  to  be  let  into  the  secret  by  a 
unique  method. 

"  Girls  and  boys,"  said  the  parson,  in  obe- 
dience to  a  whisper  from  the  president,  and 
running  his  eye  around  the  ring,  "  you  all  see 
this  foundation,"  pointing  to  it. 

Who  didn't? 

"What's  it  for?"  piped  out  Johnnie  Carey, 
in  an  awful  spasm  of  uncontrollable  curiosity. 

"  Ah !  that  is  the  question.  You  might 
guess  one  thing,  and  you  might  guess  another, 
and  come  far  from  the  truth.  Now  you  shall 
know  without  delay.  It  is  to  be  a  building  "  — 

A  groan  of  disappointment  passed  around 
the  entire  circle  as  the  parson  paused,  appar- 
ently at  the  end  of  his  narration. 

— "  in  which  we  hope  to  see  illustrated, 
Cherryfield's  attempt  to  prove  that  good  citi- 
zenship pays.  Good  citizenship,  I  repeat," 
said  the  parson,  getting  excited,  and  waving 
his  hand.  "  Honesty  toward  all  men  ;  charity 
toward  all,  and  the  heart  set  on  God.  This 
makes  a  good  citizen,  girls  and  boys." 

"  Hear !  hear ! "  cried  the  president,  pounding 
with  his  walking-stick  on  the  ground. 


THE  SECRET  IS   OUT.  223 

"  Now  this  building  is  to  be  erected  as  the 
place  where  such  good  citizenship  may  be  seen  ; 
where  it  may  work  before  you  all,  through,  we 
will  hope,  long  and  happy  lives.  You  may 
cheer  now,  if  you  like,  for  the  good  citizens, 
the  future  dwellers  in  this  building  that  is  to 
be"  — 

Parson  Higginson  stepped  on  a  stone,  and 
swung  his  hat.  "As  we  shall  probably  have 
a  crowd  of  sightseers  upon  us  presently,"  he 
said,  on  the  conclusion  of  this  performance, 
which  immensely  relieved  the  pent-up  condition 
of  the  boys,  "  we  will  proceed  briefly.  Brimmer 
and  Company,  as  you  have  been  cheered  by 
your  comrades,  will  you  have  the  goodness  to 
step  out  here  and  show  yourselves?"  He 
nodded  over  at  them  and  held  out  his  hand  to 
Rosy. 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  began  Jack,  standing 
quite  still.  Corny,  pretending  great  calmness, 
felt  his  legs  shake  under  him  with  some  great 
development,  he  could  not  tell  what,  impend- 
ing. Rosy  smiled  innocently  on  the  crowd, 
and  thought  it  a  beautiful  sight,  but  that  it 
had  anything  to  do  with  them,  never  entered 
her  mind. 


224  THE  LITTLE  BED   SHOP. 

"  Of  course  you  don't  understand,"  exclaimed 
the  parson  and  the  president  together,  nodding 
at  the  senior  member. 

"  And  maybe  you  won't  till  you  see  Brimmer 
Brothers  and  Company  on  the  middle  door. 
Then  how  will  it  look  ?  "  cried  Miss  Peaseley. 
"Say?  Big  letters,  you  know,  and  as  bright 
as  the  gilt  can  make  'em,  you  know.  Say?" 

"  Hurry,  Jack,  and  lead  the  others  out.  I 
hear  the  rumblings  of  the  earth  that  proclaim  ' 
the  coming  crowd.  We  want  this  all  to  our- 
selves ;  that's  one  reason  why  we  chose  to 
bring  you  all  here  in  the  evening.  Come," 
and  Jack  found  himself  with  Corny  and  Rosy 
somehow  in  the  centre  of  the  circle,  with  the 
three  conspirators  all  talking  together  and  say- 
ing something  to  the  circle,  Mother  Brimmer 
over  on  the  outer  edge,  and  the  schoolmaster 
distributing  himself  generously  in  as  many 
places  as  he  impartially  could. 

And  out  of  the  confusion  the  ear  could 
catch,  "  It's  for  you,  Jack,  and  Corny,  and 
Rosalie." 

"  The  Little  Red  Shop  is  to  be  the  Brimmer 
Store." 

"  You  are  to  have  it  at  twenty-five  dollars 


THE  SECRET  IS   OUT.  225 

rent  the  first  year,  and  as  you  make  your 
profits  your  rent  will  advance,  until  you  are 
treated  like  other  business  concerns." 

"There  is  to  be  a  library  and  reading-room 
in  the  second  story  "  — 

"And  it  will  be  ready  to  move  into  in  six 
months  "  — 

The  noise  of  numberless  feet,  bringing  spec- 
tators rushing  to  the  scene,  anticipating  a  fire, 
or  an  explosion,  or  an  impromptu  political 
parade,  or  one  of  the  thousand  and  one  events 
that  thrill  a  town  centre,  brought  this  ringing 
order :  — 

"  Hurry !  we  want  this  celebration  all  to  our- 
selves. Now,  another  cheer  from  you  all  for 
Brimmer  Brothers  and  Company  —  now!" 

It  came  from  bewildered  and  happy  and  ex- 
cited throats,  almost  drowning  its  finale, — 

"The  crowd  are  coming!  Disband,  and 
scamper  home ! " 


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